THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


THE 

TEACHING   BOTANIST 

A    MANUAL   OF   INFORMATION   UPON 
BOTANICAL    INSTRUCTION 

TOGETHER  WITH 

OUTLINES  AND  DIRECTIONS  FOR  A  COMPREHENSIVE 
ELEMENTARY  COURSE 


BY 
WILLIAM    F.   GANONG,   PH.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  BOTANY  IN  SMITH  COLLEGE 


Nrfrr  gorfc 
THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON :  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.,  LTD. 
1907 

All  rights  reserved 


3ENERAL 


COPYRIGHT,  1899, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  July,  1899.       Reprinted  August, 
1900;  January,  1905;  March,  1907. 


PREFACE 

IT  may  appear  at  first  sight  that  the  title  of  this 
work  is  of  wider  scope  than  its  contents.  Addressed 
broadly  to  the  teaching  botanist,  and  professing  to  serve 
as  a  manual  of  information  upon  botanical  instruction, 
it  nevertheless  deals  chiefly  with  one  phase  of  botanical 
teaching ;  namely,  with  its  elementary  presentation  as  a 
science.  Yet  in  this  it  represents  the  actual  condition 
of  the  problems  in  botanical  teaching  at  the  present 
day.  On  the  one  hand,  our  university  and  advanced 
college  teaching,  carried  on  as  investigation  or  in  that 
spirit,  represents  a  well-nigh  ideal  relation  of  teacher  to 
student ;  and  on  the  other,  the  botanical  part  of  nature 
study  in  the  lower  schools  has  hardly  yet  begun  to 
attract  the  attention  it  deserves.  It  is  just  between 
these  two,  between  advanced  college  and  lower  school 
work,  that  is,  in  elementary  courses  in  Botany  treated 
as  a  science,  whether  in  high  school  or  college,  that  the 
present  problems  lie.  Here  is  the  real  centre  of  discus- 
sion, effort,  and  advance  in  botanical  teaching  to-day. 

This  part  of  botanical  teaching  is  now  in  a  state 
of  wonderfully  rapid  expansion  and  transition.  Three 
causes  are  contributing  to  this  result :  first,  the  natural 
reaction  from  its  former  extreme  backwardness  ;  second, 
a  widening  recognition  of  the  value  of  the  sciences,  of 
which  Botany  is  a  leading  one,  in  general  education; 

Y 

167102 


vi  PREFACE 

third,  its  acceptance  as  an  entrance  subject  by  some  of 
the  leading  colleges.  There  is  thus  arising  an  unprece- 
dented demand  for  a  teaching  that  shall  be  more  exten- 
sive, more  thorough,  and  more  representative  of  the 
present  state  of  the  science.  But  so  rapid  is  the  ad- 
vance in  the  science  itself,  as  well  as  in  methods  of 
teaching  it,  that  only  specialists  with  the  best  oppor- 
tunities are  able  to  keep  pace  with  their  progress,  and 
others  are  placed  at  a  great  disadvantage,  no  matter 
how  great  their  desire  to  improve  their  teaching  or 
their  eagerness  to  utilize  the  latest  and  best  knowledge. 
It  is  for  teachers  of  such  progressive  spirit,  and  in  the 
effort  to  bring  together  the  best  that  is  at  present  known 
about  the  teaching  of  elementary  courses  in  the  science 
of  Botany,  that  this  book  has  been  written  and  made  as 
nearly  as  possible  monographic  in  its  character.  That 
it  may  meet  the  rising  demand  for  guidance  in  the 
teaching  of  Botany  in  its  more  modern  and  approved 
aspects,  and  even  serve  in  some  measure  as  a  stimulus 
to  yet  greater  advancement,  is  the  aim  and  wish  of  its 
author. 

The  elementary  course  recommended  and  outlined  in 
this  book,  while  it  seems  to  me  the  one  best  suited  to 
conditions  now  prevailing  and  likely  to  prevail  for  a 
long  time  to  come,  is  certainly  very  far  from  final.  It 
contains  many  topics  that  belong  in  the  lower  grades, 
topics  which  are  already  there  in  some  schools  and 
will  soon  be  placed  there  in  others.  But  in  the  present 
confused  state  of  botanical  teaching  in  the  schools,  it 
is  unsafe  to  assume  in  any  general  course  that  any 
particular  subjects  have  already  been  studied  by  the 
students;  and  the  only  logical  plan  is  to  start  the 
course  from  the  beginning,  and  then  make  special  allow- 


PREFACE  Vll 

ances  for  those  who  have  had  particular  topics.  Again, 
although  I  have  tried  to  utilize  the  best  in  the  experi- 
ence of  my  fellow-teachers  (including  the  very  valuable 
Report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten)  as  well  as  in  my  own, 
yet  the  subject  is  so  new  that  much  discussion,  trial, 
and  experiment  will  be  needed  before  the  best  selec- 
tion and  proportioning  of  subjects  will  be  found. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  plan  of  the  course  does  not 
aim  directly  at  what  most  of  our  leading  teachers  now 
regard  as  the  ideal.  This  ideal  places  vital  phenomena 
first,  especially  as  they  manifest  themselves  in  mould- 
ing the  physiognomy  of  vegetation.  Indeed,  I  sup- 
pose most  people  will  agree  on  this  point,  that  the  best 
knowledge  we  can  give  our  students  is  that  which  will 
enable  them  to  understand  the  influences  determining 
the  physiognomy  or  topography  of  vegetation,  why  it 
has  the  shapes  and  colors  and  sizes  and  distributions 
it  has.  Our  courses  should  aim  to  do  for  the  students 
of  vegetation  much  the  same  that  the  modern  science  of 
physiography  is  doing  for  students  of  the  forms  of  the 
land,  —  it  should  demonstrate  the  factors  determining 
its  present  construction.  But  a  course  aiming  directly 
at  this  ideal  is  not  at  present  practicable,  and  indeed 
I  doubt  if  it  ever  will  be.  The  problem  of  the  topog- 
raphy of  vegetation  is  enormously  more  complex  than 
that  of  the  topography  of  the  land,  and  we  have  not  yet 
either  the  knowledge,  the  methods,  or  the  inclination  to 
attack  it  directly  in  general  courses.  It  should  be  kept 
in  view  as  an  ideal  and  worked  toward  indirectly.  The 
best  basis  or  skeleton  for  an  elementary  course  is,  and 
I  think  always  will  be,  not  phenomena,  which  are  ab- 
stract and  elusive,  but  structure,  which  is  concrete,  and 


Viii  PREFACE 

with  which  the  student  may  be  brought  into  immediate 
personal  contact.  Using  it  as  the  basis  of  a  course,  as  I 
have  done,  has  moreover  this  further  advantage,  that  it 
enables  us  to  keep  and  build  upon  what  is  best  in  our 
botanical  courses  of  the  past  and  present,  and  that  best 
has  always  been  structural. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  work,  I  have  made  constant 
use  of  these  modern  and  excellent  works,  often  cited  in 
the  following  pages,  by  Spalding,  Bergen,  Setchell,  L.  H. 
Bailey,  Barnes,  and  Atkinson,  and  I  express  here  my 
indebtedness  to  them.  The  figures  are  all  new,  though 
Nos.  17,  1 8,  22,  23,  24,  have  already  appeared  in  an  arti- 
cle of  mine  in  the  Botanical  Gazette  for  April,  1899. 
At  least  one  valuable  feature  in  the  course  given  in  this 
work,  namely,  the  use  of  the  vertical  diagrams  of  flow- 
ers, I  owe  directly  to  Professor  Goodale  ;  but  there  is 
much  else  in  the  book,  particularly  in  its  general  spirit, 
which  I  owe  to  his  teaching.  I  wish  also  to  express 
my  obligation  to  Mr.  E.  J.  Canning,  Head  Gardener 
at  Smith  College,  for  his  assistance  in  seeking  new 
materials  for  study  and  in  devising  easier  ways  of  grow- 
ing them,  and  to  my  assistant,  Miss  Grace  Smith,  for 
her  advice  and  aid  in  the  proof-reading. 

I  have  taken  advantage  of  a  new  issue  of  this  book  to 
make  some  half-dozen  slight  verbal  corrections.  None 
of  them,  however,  are  important  except  the  substitution 
of  food-substance  for  the  erroneous  use  of  endosperm  on 
page  175. 

W.  F.  G. 
Jan.  4,  1907. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION  i 


PART   I 

ESS  A  YS   ON  BOTANICAL  PEDAGOGICS 

1 

THE   PLACE    OF    THE  SCIENCES    IN    EDUCATION,  AND  OF 

BOTANY  AMONG  THE  SCIENCES 13 

II 
WHAT  BOTANY  is  OF  MOST  WORTH  ? .        .        .        .        .      39 

III 
ON  THINGS  ESSENTIAL  TO  GOOD  BOTANICAL  TEACHING     .      46 

IV 
ON  SCIENTIFIC  RECORDING,  —  DRAWING  AND  DESCRIPTION      66 

V 
ON  LABORATORIES  AND  THEIR  EQUIPMENT  ....      79 

VI 

ON  BOTANICAL  COLLECTIONS  AND  OTHER  ILLUSTRATIONS  .      95 

ix 


X  CONTENTS 

VII 

PAGE 

ON  BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND  THEIR  USE        .        .        .        .119 

VIII 

ON  SOME  COMMON   ERRORS    PREJUDICIAL  TO  GOOD   BO- 
TANICAL TEACHING .     143 

PART   II 

• 

AN  OUTLINE  FOR  A   SYNTHETIC  ELEMENTARY 
COURSE  IN   THE   SCIENCE    OF  BOTANY 

INTRODUCTION        .        . 155 

DIVISION  I 
THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  SCIENCE  OF  BOTANY 

I.  The  Anatomy  of  the  Seed 161 

II.  The  Anatomy  and  Morphology  of  the  Seed        .         .167 

III.  The  Locomotion  of  Seeds 172 

IV.  The  Germination  of  the   Seed  and  Growth  of  the 

Embryo 176 

V.     The  Structure  and  Development  of  the  Seedling         .     187 

VI.     The  Differentiated  Higher  Plant         .         .         .         .191 

VII.     Plasticity  of  the  Shoot  and  Root  in  Form  and  Size     .  '  198 

VIII.     Special  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  Shoot  and  Root     204 

IX.     The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  Winter  Buds  .         .     208 

X.     The  Minute  Anatomy  of  Root  and  Shoot    .         .         .211 

XI.     The  Cellular  Anatomy  of  the  Shoot  — the   Leaf  in 

Particular 214 

XII.     The  Cellular  Anatomy  of  the  Shoot  —  the  Stem   in 

Particular       .  .     221 


CONTENTS  xi 

PAGE 

XIII.  The  Cellular  Anatomy  of  the  Root      .                           .  226 

XIV.  The  Anatomy  and  Morphology  of  the  Flower     .         .  233 
XV.     The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  the  Flower       .         .  240 

XVI.     The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  the  Flower  —  Con- 
tinued          • .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  244 

XVII.     The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  the  Fruit         .         .  247 

DIVISION   II 
THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  GROUPS  OF  PLANTS 

I.     The  Algae 250 

II.     The  Fungi 256 

III.  The  Lichens 258 

IV.  The  Bryophytes 259 

V.     The  Pteridophytes      .         .         .     ,    .         .         .         .  260 

VI.     The  Gymnosperms     .......  261 

VII.     The  Angiosperms 262 

INDEX    .                       267 


INTRODUCTION 

IT  is  plain  to  all  who  read  the  signs  of  the  times  that 
we  in  these  days  are  seeing  the  beginning  of  a  great 
movement  toward  the  introduction  of  the  Sciences  into 
general  Education.  The  chief  obstacle  to  their  rapid 
utilization,  however,  next  to  the  conservatism  of  educa- 
tional bodies,  is  the  widespread  ignorance  of  how  to 
use  them  economically.  In  their  modern  form  they 
are  too  new,  and  their  advance  has  been  too  rapid,  to 
let  them  grow  gradually  into  the  framework  of  our 
educational  system,  and  they  are  forcing  themselves  in 
upon  it  from  the  outside.  It  becomes,  therefore,  a 
problem,  and  a  difficult  one,  how  best  to  assimilate 
them  with  what  is  already  there,  and  as  well  how  to 
present  them  in  their  optimum  value  and  with  the 
greatest  possible  economy.  This  book  is  an  attempt 
to  face  squarely  these  issues  for  the  Science  of  Botany. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  general  Education,  the 
subject  is  not  so  vast  as  it  seems.  It  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  special  study  of  particular  phases  of  the  Sci- 
ence as  followed  in  the  universities,  and  only  indirectly 
anything  to  do  with  that  use  of  Plants  and  their  phe- 
nomena which,  as  a  part  of  Nature  Study,  is  coming 

B  I 


2  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

to  form  so  valuable  an  element  in  the  discipline  of  the 
primary  schools,,  and  so  excellent  a  preparation  for  the 
proper  stu^y-  pf  the  subjects  as  Sciences  later.  It  is 
limited  rather  t.o  that  systematic,  complete,  well-propor- 
tioned presentation  of  the  salient  facts  and  principles 
of  Botany  essential  to  its  treatment  as  a  Science.J)  Such 
a  treatment  the  best  colleges  aim  to  give  in  their  gen- 
eral or  elementary  courses,  and  its  equivalent  they  are 
beginning  to  expect  from  the  preparatory  schools  as 
an  optional  entrance  requirement.  The  time,  therefore, 
has  come  for  opening  up  the  question,  What  is  the 
Optimum  of  training  and  knowledge  in  an  ideal  ele- 
mentary course  in  the  Science  of  Botany,  and  how 
may  it  most  economically  be  realized? 

At  the  outset  it  may  be  thought  of  little  use  to 
attempt  to  point  out  an  optimum  treatment  for  this  or 
any  Science,  since  the  Optimum  must  necessarily  be 
subjective  and  vary  with  place  and  person,  and  since, 
also,  various  practical  reasons,  such  as  imperfect  train- 
ing of  teachers,  different  standards  of  colleges  and 
communities,  lack  of  proper  facilities,  must  oftener  than 
not  prevent  the  attainment  of  any  high  standard.  To 
this  it  may  be  answered  that  the  practical  difficulties 
are  constantly  and  rapidly  lessening;  that  colleges  and 
communities  are  tending  to  become  more  uniform  in 
the  essentials  of  their  requirements ;  that,  moreover, 
an  objective  Optimum  for  the  treatment  of  this  as  of 
any  Science,  difficult  though  it  may  be  to  establish  it, 


INTRODUCTION  3 

must,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  exist ;  and  that  even 
where  the  attainment  of  the  Optimum  cannot  imme- 
diately be  hoped  for,  it  is,  nevertheless,  an  immense 
advantage  to  have  it  ever  in  view  as  a  standard  of 
comparison  and  an  ideal  for  which  to  strive. 

Naturally  there  will  be  much  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  what  should  enter  into  an  optiiruim  elementary 
course  in  Botany  treated  as  a  Science,  and  it  is  only 
after  long  discussion  and  much  experiment  that  any 
consensus  of  opinion  can  be  expected.  But  all  will 
agree  that  the  Optimum  must  be  such  as  will  make 
available  the  potentialities  of  the  Science  as  a  means 
for  training  the  mind  and  as  an  element  in  culture ;  and 
I  think  it  will  not  be  denied  that  to  accomplish  these 
ends  it  must  embody  the  essence  of  the  best  human 
knowledge  of  the  leading  divisions  of  the  Science,  and 
that  it  must  include  training  in  those  qualities  by  which 
that  knowledge  has  been  gained.  The  field  of  scientific 
Botany  should  be  laid  open  to  the  student,  much  as 
the  topography  of  a  country  is  represented  on  a  good 
map  ;  that  is,  however  small  its  scale,  it  should  show  all 
the  great  features  in  their  proper  relative  proportions. 
If  this  be  admitted,  it  follows  that  the  optimum  course 
in  Botany  must  treat  the  science,  not  by  divisions,  but 
synthetically,  must  include  training  in  the  elements  of 
Anatomy,  Morphology,  Physiology,  Ecology,  and  Clas- 
sification, and  cannot  be  limited  to  any  one  or  two  of 
them.  The  particular  place  and  correlation  of  these  I 


4  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

shall  try  to  develop  in  a  later  chapter.  I  wish  here 
merely  to  make  plain  the  leading  idea  which  is  at  the 
foundation  of  this  book. 

The  introduction  of  the  principles  of  Physiology 
and  Ecology  into  elementary  courses  in  the  Science 
of  Botany  is  not  only  forced  upon  us  by  the  present 
state  and  trend  of  the  Science,  but  is  of  immense  peda- 
gogic value  as  well.  Plant  structure,  and  relationships 
as  based  upon  structure,  have  been  relatively  so  well 
studied  that  investigators  are  coming  to  concern  them- 
selves more  with  the  forces  and  influences  which  deter- 
mine structure.  Physiology  is  giving  the  interpretation 
of  Anatomy,  and  Ecology  that  of  Morphology.  The 
conception  of  the  Plant  as  first  of  all  a  living,  breath- 
ing, working  being,  with  its  functions  controlling  its 
structure,  is  not  only  the  truest,  the  most  objective  con- 
ception of  it,  but  is  as  well  the  one  which  excites  the 
greatest  human  sympathy  and  interest.  It  is,  then, 
not  only  unfair  to  our  students  to  continue  to  offer 
them  a  conception  of  lesser  worth,  but  also  is  a 
refusal  to  accept  the  best  "  method  "  which  the  Science 
has  at  present  to  give  us.  The  introduction  of  Physi- 
ology and  Ecology  is  the  most  marked  characteristic 
of  progress  in  botanical  teaching  to-day,  and  amply 
explains  their  prominence  in  the  present  work. 

Those  who  have  observed  the  rapid  advances  in  the 
teaching  of  the  Biological  Sciences  in  the  past  few  years 
must  have  noticed  the  answering  changes  in  the  books 


INTRODUCTION  5 

devoted  to  it.  First  of  all  in  time  was  the  Text-book, 
the  fount  of  all  knowledge,  descended  to  us  from  early 
times.  The  introduction  of  direct  inductive  study  of 
facts  and  phenomena  in  the  laboratory  led,  if  not  to  the 
abandonment  of  the  Text-book,  at  least  to  its  temporary 
eclipse ;  and  there  rose  to  prominence  the  Laboratory 
Manuals,  which  were  books  of  directions  to  enable  the 
student  economically  to  work  out  the  more  important 
truths  for  himself.  But  laboratory  study  alone,  neces- 
sarily confined  to  a  few  types,  has  been  found  to  give 
too  disconnected  a  view  of  the  Science,  and  the  Text- 
book for  supplementary  reading  is  coming  again  into 
favor ;  and  in  some  recent  books  we  see  an  attempt  to 
combine  Laboratory  Manual  and  Text-book.  The  Labo- 
ratory Manuals,  also,  have  not  proved  altogether  satis- 
factory, for  they  necessarily  call  for  definite  materials, 
which  oftener  than  not  are  wanting  when  most  needed ; 
and,  moreover,  a  good  teacher  will  not  submit  to  the  re- 
straint they  impose  upon  him,  especially  in  matters  of 
detail,  when  they  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  his  students. 
To  meet  these  difficulties  the  later  books  either  give  an 
excessive  abundance  of  exercises,  far  more  than  can  be 
accomplished  in  the  assigned  time,  hence  allowing  a 
considerable  choice,  or  else  they  are  addressed  less  to 
the  pupils  than  to  the  teacher,  for  whose  benefit  many 
pages  of  advice  are  added.  This  tendency  to  aim  at 
influencing  the  teacher  directly,  to  educate  and  advise 
him  while  leaving  him  free  in  his  choice  of  methods 


6'  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

and  materials,  is  most  healthful,  and  directly  in  the 
line  which  produces  success  in  all  occupations.  As  a 
whole,  the  logical  and  desirable  outcome  of  present 
tendencies  in  laboratory  instruction,  so  far  as  books  are 
concerned,  seems  to  me  this,  —  to  separate  the  Labora- 
tory Manual  entirely  from  the  Text-book,  and  to  make 
the  former  a  series  of  model  outlines  for  the  use  of  the 
teacher  only,  who,  aided  by  suggestions  as  to  alterna- 
tive materials,  etc.,  will  make  up  from,  them  for  each 
exercise  special  outlines  to  be  given  to  the  students, 
which  shall  fit  exactly  the  material  at  their  disposal, 
their  state  of  advancement,  and  the  particular  mode  of 
treatment  the  teacher  prefers;  while  the  Text-book,  used 
only  for  supplementary  reading  after  the  laboratory 
work,  shall  be  truly  a  book  of  texts  in  the  old  sense, 
as  synthetically  and  attractively  written  as  possible.  It 
is  a  Laboratory  Manual  of  this  type,  addressed  to  the 
teacher  alone,  with  model  outlines  and  advice  upon 
teaching  the  Science,  which  is  offered  by  the  present 
book. 

The  leading  idea  in  the  construction  of  any  set  of 
model  outlines  must,  of  course,  be  that  of  the  Optimum, 
an  Optimum  which  is  a  resultant  between  practical  con- 
ditions and  their  author's  opinion  as  to  what  is  the  best 
kind  of  a  botanical  course,  both  for- training  and  knowl- 
edge. On  this  latter  point  opinions  differ  widely,  and 
I  shall  consider  the  leading  ones  in  a  later  chapter ;  but 
there  is  one  which  is  so  fundamental  as  to  need  men- 


INTRODUCTION  7 

tion  here.  There  are  some  teachers  who  believe  that 
the  first  duty  of  the  Sciences  to-day  is  to  supply  the 
conspicuous  lack  of  training  in  observation  and  induc- 
tive reasoning  in  the  general  educational  system,  and 
that  those  Sciences  and  those  special  parts  of  them  best 
fitted  for  this  purpose  should  be  used,  while  other  parts 
are  more  or  less  negligible.  In  other  words,  they  be- 
lieve that,  at  least  for  the  present,  the  Sciences  should 
be  dependent  organs  of  the  general  educational  sys- 
tem, not  independent  members  of  it.  There  are  books 
written  with  this  idea  more  or  less  prominent.  If  the 
Sciences  could  yield  little  beyond  mind-training,  or  if 
mind-training  were  the  only  aim  of  Education,  this  posi- 
tion would  be  sound.  But  the  Sciences  to-day  are  com- 
ing to  mean  much  more  in  Education  than  the  mere 
stopping  of  a  gap  in  the  general  system,  more  than 
any  certain  kind  of  training,  even  more  than  a  kind  of 
knowledge  made  desirable  by  the  activities  of  the  times ; 
they  are  coming  to  mean  nothing  less  than  a  full  and 
perfect  equality  with  any  and  all  other  subjects  what- 
soever as  elements  in  culture.  This  conception  of  the 
place  of  Botany  in  Education  demands  much  more  than 
the  use  of  such  parts  of  it  as  are  particularly  good 
for  inductive  training;  it  demands  its  treatment  as  an 
entity,  complete  and  well-rounded,  which  implies,  again, 
an  objective  Optimum  as  the  ideal.  I  believe  such  an 
objective  Optimum  exists,  though  much  experiment  and 
discussion  are  needful  before  it  will  be  found.  Never- 


8  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

theless,  some  of  its  characteristics  are  plain,  and  these 
are  embodied  in  the  recommendations  given  in  this 
book,  and  particularly  in  the  Outlines  in  fart  II. 

It  is  easy  to  have  ideals,  hard  to  attain  to  them. 
It  is  true  there  are  few  teachers  capable  of  using 
such  an  optimum  course;  it  is  true  that  for  many 
schools  it  seems  so  vast  in  scope  as  to  be  unrealiza- 
ble with  actual  conditions;  and  the  materials,  appa- 
ratus, and  facilities  appear  hopelessly  expensive.  To 
attempt  to  realize  it  everywhere  at  once  would  be 
but  to  undertake  an  impossibility;  but  present-day 
conditions  are  rapidly  removing  the  chief  obstacles. 
In  some  colleges,  teachers  are  being  trained  who. can 
teach  these  different  divisions  of  the  subject,  and 
teach  them  well.  Further,  by  a  rigorous  selection  of 
the  most  fundamental  topics,  by  a  correct  correlation 
of  these  so  that  they  may  throw  light  upon  one 
another,  by  the  invention  of  experiments  which,  with 
simple  appliances,  logically  demonstrate  leading  prin- 
ciples, by  the  finding  out  of  those  plants  combining 
the  greatest  illustrativeness  with  ease  of  acquisition, 
by  the  use  of  the  psychologically  best  methods,  and 
by  other  inventions  aiming  to  secure  greater  efficiency 
from  the  time,  labor,  and  money  expended ;  by  all 
these  may  a  great  advance  be  made  toward  the  Opti- 
mum without  proportionate  cost. 

Naturally,  these  economies  must  be  worked  out  by 
those  who  have  the  best  facilities  and  talents  for  them ; 


INTRODUCTION  9 

and  there  is  here  opened  up  an  attractive  field  for 
investigation,  one  which  is  far  broader  than  a  search 
for  new  methods,  for  it  is  a  great  study  in  correlation, 
materials,  and  generalship.  He  who  gives  us  a  more 
objective  proportioning  of  subjects,  a  more  remunera- 
tive treatment  of  a  topic,  or  a  new  device  for  the  logical 
proof  of  a  fundamental  principle,  renders  to  Education 
a  service  like  his  to  humanity  who  makes  two  blades 
of  grass  grow  where  one  grew  before.  Great  advances 
in  this  direction  are  being  made ;  to  utilize  these,  and 
even  to  add  to  them,  has  been  a  leading  impulse  in  the 
development  of  this  work. 

The  Botanical  course  of  the  near  future  must  be 
more  adaptive  to  Education,  more  broad  and  represen- 
tative of  the  Science,  more  economical  of  energy  than 
in  the  past.  It  remains  to  inquire  how  these  improve- 
ments may  best  be  made. 


PART   I 

ESSAYS   ON  BOTANICAL   PEDAGOGICS 


I.  THE  PLACE  OF  THE  SCIENCES  IN  EDU- 
CATION, AND  OF  BOTANY  AMONG 
THE  SCIENCES 

IT  is  essential  to  the  success  of  the  teaching  botanist 
that  he  have  as  clear-cut  and  objective  a  conception 
as  possible  of  the  place  of  his  subject  in  Education. 
This  he  must  work  out  for  himself  through  observa- 
tion and  much  thought,  but  here  follow  some  data 
and  ideas  with  a  direct  bearing  upon  it. 

What  is  the  aim  of  Education  ?  Though  so  old, 
this  question  is  yet  ever  new,  and  there  is  no  subject 
of  equal  public  importance  still  so  little  understood 
by  those  whom  it  most  concerns.  Its  value  in  the 
abstract  is  everywhere  granted,  but  there  is  still  widely 
prevalent  the  greatest  confusion  between  Education, 
Knowledge,  Information,  and  Professional  or  Techni- 
cal Training ;  and  it  is  a  first  duty  of  every  educator 
to  acquire  clear  ideas  upon  these  matters,  and  on  all 
proper  occasions  vigorously  to  set  them  forth.  Now 
the  cosmic  basis  of  Education  seems  to  me  this.  Man 
is  an  animal  whose  weak  and  weaponless  body  is 
inferior  to  that  of  many  of  the  brutes,  but  he  has  risen 
to  domination  over  them,  and  much  more  of  Nature 
besides,  through  the  possession  of  one  supreme  char- 

13 


14  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

acteristic,  Mind.  To  enable  him  not  only  to  make 
the  best  present  use,  but  to  realize  the  utmost  poten- 
tialities of  this  his  great  weapon,  —  such  is  the  true 
end  of  Education.  But  though  the  aim  is  simple,  its 
attainment  is  hard,  for  Mind  at  its  best  is  so  com- 
plex, so  liable  to  maladjustment,  so  little  understood 
by  most  of  its  possessors,  that  its  cultivation  requires 
the  greatest  wisdom,  skill,  and  sympathy,  and  the  need 
for  these  qualities  is  but  partially  realized  by  the  public. 

Of  all  of  the  many  problems  of  Education,  the  one 
nearest  the  surface  is  this,  —  to  determine  the  proper 
balance  between  mind-training  pure  and  simple,  and 
the  training  of  the  mind  for  the  practice  of  a  particu- 
lar business.  The  demand  for  the  latter  is  incessant, 
particularly  in  poorer  communities ;  but  if  there  is  one 
thing  plain  about  Education,  it  is  this,  —  that  from 
the  very  nature  of  Mind,  it  is  a  more  efficient  weapon 
for  any  particular  service  if  it  has  first  been  put  into 
a  state  of  general  sharpness  and  polish.  This  means 
that  each  mind  will  achieve  greater  success  in  the 
end,  if,  before  it  is  tunrcrtTo  a  particular  work,  it  is 
given  the  best  general  drawing-out  it  is  capable  of. 
To  give  this  is  the  first  duty  of  Education. 

Unhappily  Education  has  to  contend  not  only  with 
misunderstanding  from  without,  but  against  dissensions 
from  within. .  In  the  abstract  all  admit  that  in  mind- 
training  the  leading  faculties  are  to  be  drawn  out, 
and  of  these  the  following  are  of  most  account.  First, 


PLACE  OF  BOTANY  IN   EDUCATION  15 

since  all  knowledge  comes  to  us  through  the  senses 
and  by  reasoning  upon  what  they  teach,  training  is 
necessary  in  the  accurate  use  of  these,  and  in  draw- 
ing correct  conclusions  from  their  evidence,  an  induc- 
tive discipline  best  yielded  by  the  Natural  Sciences. 
Second,  there  is  Number  and  its  properties  and  rea- 
soning thereon,  largely  deductive,  which  is  the  prov- 
ince of  Mathematics.  Third,  there  is  Communication, 
involving  expression ;  that  is,  Language.  Fourth,  there 
is  relationship  with  other  men,  expressed  in  History 
and  Political  Economy.  Now  it  would  seem  to  be 
the  duty  of  a  good  system  of  Education  to  give  fair 
attention  to  all  of  these.  But  in  fact,  what  is  the 
case  ?  As  a  fair  index  of  what  is  generally  regarded 
as  important  in  Education  to-day,  we  may  take  the 
entrance  requirements  of  the  large  colleges.  With 
few  exceptions,  these  give  the  first  and  preponderating 
place  to  Languages,  and  among  these  it  is  not  the* 
one  the  student  speaks  that  is  made  of  most  account, 
but  two  or  three  foreign  ones.  The  second  place  is 
given  to  Mathematics.  The  third  is  given  to  a  little 
History,  which,  however,  is  not  of  a  kind  to  throw 
any  light  upon  the  constitution  of  affairs  to-day,  but 
is  generally  entirely  ancient.  Usually  there  is  no 
fourth  place,  and  if  there  is,  it  is  given  to  a  small 
amount  of  one  of  the  Sciences  timidly  admitted  as  a 
partial  alternative  for  one  of  the  several  Languages. 
Nor  can  the  colleges  claim  that  this  does  not  repre- 


16  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

sent  their  idea  of  what  is  important,  but  that  it  is 
forced  upon  them  by  the  poor  teaching  of  the  other 
subjects  in  the  preparatory  schools ;  for  many  colleges 
in  their  requirements  for  graduation,  over  which  they 
have  full  control,  still  demand  much  ancient  Language 
and  the  Mathematics,  but  leave  the  Sciences  and  His- 
tory voluntary,  thus  stamping  the  former  as  essential, 
and  the  latter  as  unessential  to  a  good  education. 
The  old  requirements  are  still  held  to,  and  little  note 
is  taken  of  the  fact  that  the  marvellous  advance  of  the 
Sciences  in  modern  times  has  brought  them  into  the 
closest  possible  relations  .with  every  phase  of  human 
life,  and  that  the  spread  of  democracy  has  created  a 
need  for  training  in  the  knowledge  essential  to  citizen- 
ship. Our  system  of  Education  is  in  many  respects 
a  survival  from  ancient  times,  and  in  these  days  often 
has  less  the  appearance  of  an  attempt  to  fit  a  student 
for  the  conditions  of  modern  life,  than  of  an  aim  to 
separate  him  as  far  as  possible  from  the  modern 
world,  and  place  him  in  a  class  based  upon  artificial 
distinctions,  a  phenomenon  only  explainable  as  a  per- 
sistence among  us  of  a  tendency  to  fetich-worship. 
Happily,  these  ancient  ideals,  though  widely,  are  by 
no  means  universally  prevalent,  but  even  the  most  lib- 
eral and  advanced  universities  have  hardly  yet  thrown 
them  off  altogether.  It  is  little  wonder  that  critics 
are  so  often  found  to  declare  that  much  of  our  sys- 
tem contributes  more  to  pedantry  than  to  usefulness, 


PLACE  OF  BOTANY  IN  EDUCATION  1 7 

or  that  self-made  men  so  often  have  no  respect  for  it. 
These  at  least  have  had  the  clearness  of  sight  to  seek 
and  use  the  inductive  or  natural  method  of  acquiring 
their  knowledge,  a  method  vastly  better  than  any  which 
Education  had  to  offer  them ;  and  there  is  many  a 
man  who  has  succeeded  rather  in  spite  of  his  educa- 
tion than  in  consequence  of  it.  The  self-made  man 
has  no  doubt  often  been  better  made  than  would  have 
been  the  case  if  "  Education  "  had  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  process. 

That  this  maladjustment  of  studies  is  as  bad  in 
practice  as  it  is  illogical  in  theory,  every  teacher  of 
the  Sciences  knows.  Through  it,  children,  during  the 
period  of  school  study,  when  their  minds  are  in  the 
most  receptive  and  formative  state,  so  far  from  being 
made  accustomed  to  natural  inductive  methods  of  ac- 
quiring knowledge,  are  subjected  to  excessive  text- 
book and  deductive  work,  which  always  tends  to  make 
them  distrustful  of  their  own  powers,  and  leads  them 
to  regard  as  the  only  real  sources  of  knowledge  the 
thoughts  of  others  properly  recorded  in  printed  books. 
The  revival  in  students  of  the  spirit  of  inductive  in- 
quiry, a  spirit  which  they  naturally  possess,  but  which 
is  usually  crushed  out  of  them  by  their  school  course,  is 
the  first  and  greatest  task  of  any  teacher  of  a  Science. 
Against  a  system  which  permits  such  a  condition,  every 
teacher  should  wage  determined  and  incessant  battle. 

The    argument    for    a   classical    course    has    always 


18  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

been  that  it  conduces  more  than  any  other  to  the 
attainment  of  Culture.  It  assumes  as  true  two  things 
now  widely  doubted,  —  first,  that  Culture  can  best  be 
obtained  in  the  same  way  by  all  men,  and  second, 
that  the  Sciences  and  History  are  inferior  as  cul- 
tural subjects  to  the  Classics  and  Mathematics.  That 
Culture  is  the  first  aim  of  Education,  we  all  agree, 
but  in  what  does  it  consist  ?  Whatever  it  may  have 
been  in  the  past,  the  conditions  of  modern  society 
are  rapidly  fixing  this  standard,  that  it  does  not  con- 
sist in  knowledge  or  training  of  any  particular,  pre- 
determined kind,  but  rather  in  thorough  knowledge 
and  training  of  some  special  useful  kind,  combined 
with  a  general  knowledge  of  what  is  passing  in  the 
world  around.  Culture  consists  less  in  wide  knowl- 
edge than  in  wider  sympathy;  not  so  much  in  stores 
of  facts  as  in  ability  to  transmute  facts  into  knowl- 
edge ;  not  only  in  well-grounded  conviction,  but  in 
toleration;  not  alone  in  absorption  of  wisdom,  but  as 
well  in  its  radiation;  in  patriotism  that  is  without 
provincialism ;  in  the  development  of  character.  But 
since  individual  minds  differ  much  in  their  composi- 
tion, no  one  kind  of  treatment  can  be  best  for  all, 
and  the  ideal  system  will  be  that  which  is  elastic 
enough  to  allow  each  to  receive  what  is  best  for  it. 
True  culture,  then,  cannot  be  attained  by  forcing  all 
minds  into  any  one  mould,  however  carefully  that 
may  be  made,  but  is  rather  to  be  attained  by  allow- 


PLACE  OF  BOTANY  IN  EDUCATION  19 

ing  each  mind  to  expand  for  itself  under  a  proper 
combination  of  nourishment  from  within  and  stimulus 
from  without. 

Whether  or  not  the  Sciences  are  inherently  as  ef- 
ficient as  the  Classics  in "  securing  Culture  is  still  in 
debate.  The  Sciences  in  these  days  have  many  dis- 
tinguished advocates,  of  whom  the  greatest  was  Hux- 
ley, and,  in  this  country,  President  Eliot.  In  the 
works  of  the  former  and  the  published  addresses  of 
the  latter  the  interested  reader  may  find  the  fullest 
satisfaction.  As  to  knowledge,  each  must  judge  for 
himself  whether  it  is  not  at  least  as  conducive  to 
gentle  conduct,  to  good  citizenship,  and  to  sympathy 
with  all  grades  of  humanity,  to  know  something  of 
the  forces  with  which  man  to-day  is  subduing  Nature, 
of  the  processes  going  on  in  our  own  bodies,  of  the 
basis  of  the  germ  nature  of  disease,  of  what  moves 
an  electric  car,  of  the  meaning  of  the  procession  of 
the  seasons  with  their  manifold  phenomena,  as  to 
know  the  lore  and  literature  of  Greece  or  the  tongues 
of  modern  Europe,  fine  though  these  things  be.  And 
as  to  training,  one  may  compare  the  best  that  can  be 
claimed  for  the  aesthetic  value,  the  facility  in  expres- 
sion, the  polish  of  manner  that  the  Languages  help 
to  produce,  with  the  following  description  from  Hux- 
ley of  the  training  value  of  the  Sciences. 

"  Science  is,  I  believe,  nothing  but  trained  and  organ- 
ised common  sense,  differing  from  the  latter  only  as 


20  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

the  veteran  may  differ  from  a  raw  recruit :  and  its 
methods  differ  from  those  of  common  sense  only  so 
far  as  the  guardsman's  cut  and  thrust  differ  from 
the  manner  in  which  a  savage  wields  his  club.  The 
primary  power  is  the  same  in  each  case,  and  perhaps 
the  untutored  savage  has  the  more  brawny  arm  of 
the  two.  The  real  advantage  lies  in  the  point  and 
polish  of  the  swordsman's  weapon ;  in  the'  trained 
eye  quick  to  spy  out  the  weakness  of  the  adversary ; 
in  the  ready  hand  prompt  to  follow  it  on  the  instant. 
But,  after  all,  the  sword  exercise  is  only  the  hewing 
and  poking  of  the  clubman  developed  and  perfected. 

"  So,  the  vast  results  obtained  by  Science  are  won 
by  no  mystical  faculties,  by  no  mental  processes, 
other  than  those  which  are  practised  by  every  one 
of  us,  in  the  humblest  and  meanest  affairs  of  life." 
("Science  and  Education,"  1894,  p.  45.) 

To  the  equality  of  the  Sciences  with  the  older  sub- 
jects in  Education,  a  large  and  increasing  part  of  the 
educational  community  is  giving  its  assent.  This 
nnds  its  best  expression  not  only  in  the  curricula  of 
our  most  progressive  colleges,  which  put  them  on  an 
equality  in  their  own  courses  by  making  all  subjects 
alike  elective,  but  also  in  the  newly-proposed  Har- 
vard entrance  requirements,  which,  with  restrictions 
made  necessary  by  the  imperfect  way  in  which  most 
of  the  Sciences  are  at  present  taught  in  the  schools, 
require  some  one  of  them  to  be  offered  for  entrance. 


PLACE  OF  BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  21 

while  other  colleges  are  coming  to  accept  them  as 
alternatives.  This  is  the  beginning  of  a  movement 
whose  logical  end  is  the  elevation  of  the  Sciences  to 
full  educational  rank  with  any  and.  all  other  subjects. 
It  must  come  about  slowly,  but  it  is  the  ideal  which 
every  teacher  of  the  Sciences  should  never  cease  to 
strive  for. 

But  how  are  the  Natural  Sciences  to  be  admitted 
to  full  equality  with  subjects  which  not  only  are  in 
possession  of  but  fully  occupy  the  ground  ?  That  the 
curriculum  is  already  full  there  is  of  course  no  ques- 
tion, and  the  introduction  of  other  subjects  is  possible 
only  through  either  first,  reducing  the  number  of,  or 
the  time  given  to,  those  already  there,  or  else  second, 
by  adding  the  new  ones  as  alternatives  to  the  older, 
permitting  students  to  choose  those  from  which  they 
gain  most  good.  The  first  is  not  to  be  thought  of, 
for  the  older  subjects,  Languages  and  the  Mathematics, 
are  well  entitled  to  the  place  they  have  won,  and 
there  are  many  students  to  whom  they  will  mean 
more  than  the  new  subjects;  their  only  offence  is 
their  unwarranted  exclusiveness.  The  second  is,  I 
.think,  the  logical,  profitable,  and  inevitable  solution, 
i;  which  will  find  its  ultimate  expression  in  the  offer- 
ing by  schools,  as  colleges  do  now,  of  as  complete, 
thorough,  and  extended  courses  in  some  one  or  more 
of  the  Sciences  as  they  offer  in  Classics  or  Mathe- 
matics. This  implies  election  in  the  school  course, 


22        .  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

though  not  a  free  election  such  as  some  colleges  find 
best,  nor  a  possibility  of  ungoverned  specialization, 
but  election  by  groups,  in  which  the  class  of  subjects 
from  which  the  student  derives  the  greatest  cultural 
good  forms  a  major  about  which  others,  of  a  kind 
and  in  the  proportion  which  experience  shows  to  be 
most  profitable,  will  be  grouped.  Thus  will  a  stu- 
dent's greatest  interest  become  the  centre  of  his 
education  and  the  point  from  which  other  subjects 
will  be  approached,  to  the  great  advantage  of  their 
learning. 

To  even  a  limited  elective  system  in  the  schools, 
there  are  three  objections  often  urged,  which  I  shall 
here  briefly  examine :  first,  a  student  does  not  often 
know  while  at  school  what  his  particular  bent  is; 
second,  most  schools  cannot  offer  so  many  courses, 
especially  since  those  in  the  Sciences  are  more  expen- 
sive than  other  kinds;  third,  early  specialization  is 
bad.  As  to  the  first,  it  is  certainly  true  that  few  stu- 
dents find  out  their  own  specialties  at  school.  But 
is  not  the  discovery  of  this  a  chief  function  of  the 
teacher  ?  Surely  the  very  first  "  method "  in  teach- 
ing is  the  diagnosis  of  each  individual  case  and  the 
fitting  of  its  proper  treatment  to  it.  Every  good 
teacher  must  notice  what  each  of  his  students  takes 
up  most  eagerly  and  learns  most  easily,  and  this 
knowledge  may  be  made  the  basis  of  influence  which 
will  determine  the  student's  election.  Indeed,  I  think 


PLACE  OF  BOTANY  IN  EDUCATION  23 


a  very  first  duty  of  teachers  is  to  find  out  what 
student  is  best  fitted  for  and  to  set  him  in  the  way 
of  it.  As  to  the  second  point,  the  expense  of  addi- 
tional courses,  it  is  true  that  scientific  courses  are  ex- 
pensive, though  by  no  means  to  the  degree  popularly 
supposed.  Without  question,  however,  no  system  of 
Education,  no  matter  how  complete,  will  ever  expect 
that  any  considerable  number  of  the  Sciences  must  be 
taught  in  every  school,  but  will  simply  expect  from 
the  smaller  the  thorough  teaching  of  one  or  two.  It 
is  the  scientific  method  or  spirit  which  is  important, 
and  for  this,  one  Science  is  about  as  good  as  another. 
All  advocates  of  the  value  of  the  Sciences  in  Educa- 
tion agree  that  one  or  two,  well  taught,  are  of  far 
more  worth  than  fragments  of  several;  and  the  newer 
college  entrance  requirements  offer  a  wide  selection 
of  subjects,  but  expect  thorough  preparation  in  the 
one  or  more  selected.  The  least,  however,  the  schools 
will  be  expected  to  offer  will  be  a  thorough  course 
equal  to  the  elementary  courses  in  college,  so  that 
the  student  may  there  enter  upon  second  courses  as 
he  now  does  in  Languages  and  Mathematics. 

It  may  seem  an  objection  to  this  specialization  in 
the  Sciences  that  they  are  more  or  less  interdepen- 
dent, and  one  cannot  be  understood  without  some 
knowledge  of  facts  and  principles  of  the  others;  but 
this  should  be,  and  no  doubt  will  be,  met  by  continu- 
ous and  ample  elementary  scientific  study  (of  which 


24  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Nature  Study  is  a  part)  in  the  lower  schools,  where 
the  principal  facts,  phenomena,  and  terminology,  of 
Physics,  Chemistry,  Botany,  etc.,  will  be  learned  at 
first  hand,  thus  forming  the  best  possible  basis  for 
the  study  of  some  one  of  those  subjects  as  a  Science 
in  the  high  school  or  of  others  in  the  college.  In- 
deed, from  all  points  of  view,  Nature  Study,  in  order 
to  be  really  effective,  needs  to  be  thorough,  consider- 
able in  amount,  and  unbroken  from  kindergarten  to 
high  school.  It  is  only  thus  that  the  natural  induc- 
tive faculties  of  children  can  be  preserved  intact, 
not  to  mention  improved,  through  their  school  life. 
Of  course  the  principle  of  selection  of  certain  Sci- 
ences to  be  taught  in  the  smaller  high  schools  will 
in  time  lead  to  a  similar  selection  of  Languages, 
whereby  fewer  of  these  being  taught,  the  burdens  of 
the  school  will  not  be  increased  by  the  proper  teach- 
ing of  the  Sciences.  And  this  selection  of  fewer  sub- 
jects for  better  teaching  will  be  rendered  the  easier 
because  of  the  more  uniform  requirements  toward  which 
the  colleges  are  all  tending. 

The  third  objection,  that  early  specialization  is  bad, 
is  based,  as  I  think,  upon  a  wrong  idea  of  it.  Spe- 
cialization is  by  no  means  a  selfish  isolation  in  a  nar- 
row line  of  interests,  but  rather  it  consists  in  making 
one's  greatest  interest  the  axis  for  the  grouping  of 
the  others.  The  conditions  of  modern  life  have  set- 
tled it  for  us  that  the  only  well-educated  man  is  a 


PLACE  OF  BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  25 

specialist,  one  who  knows  something  well,  it  matters 
not  so  much  what,  and  has  sympathy  for  other  things. 
Of  this  condition  all  Education  should  take  account, 
as  it  is  doing  plainly  enough  in  its  higher  grades. 
But  even  for  the  schools  the  value  of  the  principle 
of  specialization  needs  no  argument,  for  it  is  there 
admitted  even  though  its  operation  is  confined  to  but 
one  group  of  subjects,  the  Classics.  Curiously  enough, 
however,  it  is  those  who  contend  for  the  value  of 
spending  half  of  the  school  time  through  several  of 
the  school  years  upon  the  single  subject  of  foreign 
languages  who  are  quickest  to  condemn  any  such  de- 
votion to  another  group  of  subjects.  I  think  their 
system  for  their  own  subjects  is  entirely  correct,  and 
it  is  simply  the  same  privilege  for  the  Sciences,  and 
no  more,  that  I  ask  for. 

Aside,  however,  from  this  particular  phase  of  the 
subject,  I  think  that,  simply  as  an  educational  prin- 
ciple, specialization  of  the  proper  sort,  i.e.  the  ut- 
most possible  thoroughness  in  some  one  subject  or 
related  group  of  subjects,  and  the  use  of  this  as  a 
centre  for  the  grouping  of  others,  cannot  begin  too 
early.  From  the  individual's  standpoint,  there  is  in 
such  an  education  certainly  the  greatest  happiness, 
and,  through  that,  the  greatest  profit.  It  makes  him 
also  at  the  same  time  a  more  valuable  member  of 
the  community  to  which  he  belongs.  The  minds  .of 
children  come  to  the  teacher  somewhat  as  the  blocks 


26  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

come  from  the  quarry  to  the  builder,  of  diverse  sizes, 
shapes,  and  textures.  The  skilled  workman  does  not 
first  reduce  them  all  to  one  kind,  but  he  takes  ac- 
count of  the  differences  of  their  natures,  and  makes 
of  this  but  a  common  building  stone,  of  that  a  col- 
umn, and  of  another  the  capstone  of  an  arch.  So  the 
effort  to  train  students  all  alike  through  their  school 
course,  leaving  the  cultivation  of  their  particular  tal- 
ents to  the  college,  is  not  logical  and  not  economical. 
In  summary,  the  opinions  as  to  the  place  of  the 
Sciences  in  Education  that  are  here  advanced  are  these, 
—  that  the  Sciences  are  intrinsically  of  as  great  educa- 
tional value  as  other  subjects,  for  some  minds  more  valu- 
able and  for  some  less,  and  hence  should  be  admitted  to 
full  equality  with  them,  being  required  where  they  are 
required  and  they  being  elective  where  the  Sciences 
are  elective ;  that  since  the  school  curricula  are  full,  the 
Sciences  should  be  introduced  as  limited  options  and  the 
older  subjects  put  upon  the  same  basis ;  that  the  election 
should  be  on  a  group  system  to  secure  all  needful 
breadth;  that  schools  which  cannot  afford  to  teach 
several  Sciences  shall  teach  but  one  or  two,  making 
these  the  equivalents  of  elementary  courses  in  the  col- 
leges ;  that  specialization  should  be  made  the  centre  of 
every  individual's  education.  Whether  or  not  the  reader 
agrees  with  these  conclusions  matters  less  than  that  he 
shall  have  definite  opinions  upon  these  subjects  and 
actively  forward  them. 


PLACE  OF  BOTANY  IN   EDUCATION  2/ 

The  precise  educational  value  of  the  Sciences  will  be 
considered  in  the  next  chapter.  Botany  is  but  one  of 
several  of  them,  and  they  differ  less  from  one  another 
than  they  as  a  whole  differ  from  other  subjects.  From 
our  present  point  of  view  they  are,  Physics  and  Chem- 
istry, largely  experimental  in  their  nature,  Zoology  and 
Botany,  largely  observational,  and  Geology  and  Physical 
Geography,  requiring  macroscopic  observation  and  gen- 
eralization. Astronomy  and  Human  Physiology  are  of 
much  less  importance,  since  practically  it  is  difficult  to 
bring  students  into  actual  contact  with  their  phenomena ; 
and  Experimental  Psychology  is  excluded  because  of  its 
unorganized  state  at  present,  and  its  recondite  nature. 
Since  the  three  first-mentioned  groups  thus  differ  some- 
what in  the  training  they  give,  it  will  be  best  for  the 
school  to  offer  at  least  one  from  each  group.  If  but  two 
can  be  had,  they  should  be  from  the  first  two  groups ;  if 
but  one,  then  it  may  best  be  from  the  first,  preferably 
Physics.  Those  of  the  first  group  are  most  expensive 
for  equipment,  those  of  the  second,  next,  and  of  the 
third,  least.  As  to  the  second  group,  for  training  it 
matters  not  in  the  least  whether  one  studies  the  fixed 
and  food-making  Plants  or  the  locomotive  and  food- 
destroying  Animals,  for  these  differences  are  insignifi- 
cant as  compared  with  the  resemblances  between  them 
as  living  organisms.  Zoology  has  some  advantages ;  the 
structure  of  Animals  is  far  more  sharply  differentiated 
than  of  Plants,  and  throws  great  light  upon  the  structure 


28  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

of  Man,  and  hence  gives  the  best  basis  for  the  under- 
standing of  many  of  the  facts  of  human  physiology, 
hygiene,  etc.  On  the  other  hand,  experimental  physi- 
ology is  easily  possible  with  Plants,  many  of  whose 
most  important  processes  are  identical  with  those  of 
Animals ;  and  Plants  are  easier  than  Animals  to  ob- 
tain and  keep.  Botany  perhaps  comes  somewhat 
closer  to  our  daily  interests  than  Zoology,  and  aes- 
thetically it  certainly  far  exceeds  the  latter.  But  which 
of  the  two  is  chosen  in  any  case  may  depend  upon  the 
predilections  of  the  teacher  or  other  extrinsic  causes. 
Often  a  combination  course  in  Biology  made  up  of  parts 
of  each  is  offered,  which  certainly  has  advantages, 
though  I  am  of  opinion  that,  upon  the  whole,  there  is 
more  profit  in  a  full  course  in  one  or  the  other  than  in  a 
half  course  of  each.  Most  people  undoubtedly  consider 
Botany  a  much  easier  subject  than  Zoology,  but  that  is 
due  entirely  to  the  fact  that  hitherto  only  its  more 
superficial  aspects  have  usually  been  selected  for  study. 
The  very  ease  of  collection,  preservation,  and  identifica- 
tion of  Plants  has  le>d  teachers  to  magnify  that  phase 
to  the  exclusion  of  others,  a  fact  which  abundantly 
explains  the  rather  low  estimation  in  which  as  a  study 
Botany  is  popularly  held.  Where  two  or  more  Sci- 
ences are  studied  in  succession,  practically  the  most 
profitable  sequence  is  as  follows,  —  Chemistry,  Physics, 
Botany,  Zoology. 


II.   WHAT  BOTANY  IS  OF  MOST  WORTH? 

THIS  question  is  here  asked  solely  with  reference  to 
teaching,  especially  in  an  elementary  course.  As  for 
the  Science  itself,  and  its  investigation,  no  one  part 
is  of  more  importance  than  any  other,  for  all  are  of 
the  utmost  value,  and  the  field  is  boundless  in  every 
direction.  But  in  teaching,  selection  is  imperative, 
and  it  is  necessary  to  find  out  what  will  give  the  best 
returns  for  the  time  and  energy  expended.  Of  course 
this  best,  or  optimum,  must  always  be  a  resultant  be- 
tween the  practical  limitations  of  available  time,  equip- 
ment, etc.,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  opinion  of  the 
teacher  as  to  what  constitutes  the  best  training  .and 
most  useful  knowledge  on  the  other.  Laboratory 
equipment  and  related  matters  are  treated  in  other 
parts  of  this  book;  I  shall  here  try  to  examine  what 
data  there  may  be  for  a  judgment  upon  the  relative 
educational  value  of  the  different  phases  of  botanical 
study. 

A  comparison  of  the  elementary  courses  in  Botany 
offered  by  the  different  colleges  and  high  schools;  or 
of  the  several  books  of  recent  date  written  as  guides 
for  elementary  courses,  shows  the  greatest  diversity 
of  plan.  The  majority  of  the  courses,  particularly  in 

29 


30  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

schools  of  small  equipment,  give  precedence  to  the 
external  anatomy,  terminology,  and  classification  of 
Flowering  Plants,  in  this  following  Gray's  "  Lessons." 
Others  make  much  of  minute  anatomy.  Some  treat 
the  morphology  and  ecology  of  the  higher  Plants 
with  little  reference  to  the  lower.  Yet  others  give 
special  emphasis  to  the  lower  groups,  making  of  first 
importance  a  study  of  these  and  their-  relationships. 
Finally,  a  few  attempt  to  combine  the  most  important 
parts  of  each  of  the  others,  naturally  adding  some 
experimental  physiology.  And  there  are  all  grada- 
tions and  combinations  of  these  diverse  plans. 

Without  any  doubt  each  of  these  courses  has  ad- 
vantages, and  it  is  very  certain  that  any  one  of  them 
in  the  hands  of  an  enthusiastic  advocate  is  better  than 
any  other  taught  with  indifference.  But  it  is  impos- 
sible that  plans  so  diverse  can  be  in  the  abstract 
equally  good,  and  the  very  fact  that  each  has  merits 
lacking  in  the  others,  shows  that  each  (except  per- 
haps the  latest-mentioned)  is  in  something  deficient. 
Surely,  aside  from  individual  opinions,  and  granting 
fair  facilities,  there  must  be  a  plan  objectively  more 
excellent  than  any  we  have  yet  found  which  shall 
utilize  the  best  which  exists  in  the  different  ones,  and 
be  more  complete  than  any  of  them.  If  such  a  course 
could  be  agreed  upon,  it  would  form  a  most  valuable 
standard  of  comparison  and  ideal  toward  which  to 
work,  But  in  addition  to  these  theoretical  considera- 


WHAT  BOTANY  IS  OF  MOST   WORTH?  31 

tions  pointing  to  a  possible  optimum,  there  is  another 
of  great  practical  importance,  namely,  since  the  pre- 
paratory schools  prepare  students  for  many  different 
colleges,  and  since  the  colleges  draw  from  many 
schools,  there  will  be  much  confusion  and  waste 
unless  preparation  and  requirements  fit  one  another, 
which  can  only  come  about  by  at  least  an  approxi- 
mately standard  elementary  course.  This  point  is 
strongly  emphasized  by  the  present  efforts  being  made 
by  both  colleges  and  schools  to  secure  such  uniformity 
for  other  subjects.  This  approach  to  uniformity  can 
come  about  only  slowly,  and  after  much  trial  and  dis- 
cussion, but  it  will  be  much  forwarded  if  every  teacher 
in  publishing  his  plan  would  add  his  reasons  for  adopt- 
ing it  in  preference  to  others.  No  doubt  in  practice 
the  subject  will  work  itself  out  in  the  form  of  a  series 
of  standard  exercises  in  anatomy,  physiology,  etc., 
much  as  it  has  already  done  in  some  preparatory 
courses  in  Physics,  results  being  judged,  not  from 
examinations,  but  from  laboratory  records  and  note- 
books. 

The  greatest  obstacle  to  the  attainment  of  this  more 
uniform  and  optimum  plan  is,  of  course,  the  difference 
of  opinion  amongst  authorities  as  to  what  should  con- 
stitute it.  Where  opinions  are  convictions  founded  on 
the  study  of  evidence,  only  full  discussion  is  necessary 
to  bring  about  agreement.  Unhappily,  however,  many 
of  our  supposed  opinions  are  but  predilections  based 


32  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

on  some  unconscious  prejudice  given  us  by  early  sur- 
roundings or  education,  and  are  no  more  matters  of 
conviction  than  is  the  language  we  speak  or  the 
country  we  are  loyal  to.  By  constant  meditation 
upon  the  excellences  of  those  phases  of  the  science 
which  he  likes  best,  usually  those  in  which  he.  has 
been  best  educated,  one  becomes  impressed  by  their 
great  value  for  training  and  as  knowledge ;  and  in  the 
absence  of  constant  comparison  with  other  phases, 
one's  own  naturally  comes  to  seem  most  important 
of  all.  This  view  once  established,  all  new  facts  sus- 
tain it ;  for  to  him  who  has  put  on  colored  glasses, 
all  things  look  of  that  color.  It  is,  then,  particularly 
important  to  endeavor  in  this  discussion  to  put  aside 
prejudices  based  upon  the  nature  of  our  own  educa- 
tion, and  to  attempt  to  rise  to  a  standpoint  high  enough 
to  give  a  view  over  the  entire  subject.  Happily,  this 
is  becoming  easier  with  each  succeeding  generation 
of  teachers ;  for  our  best  colleges  are  now  giving  a 
thorough  and  well-rounded  botanical  education. 

All  teachers  must  agree  that  the  optimum  course 
will  be  that  which  combines .  the  best  training  with 
the  most  useful  knowledge.  Our  inquiry,  then,  re- 
solves itself  into  these  two  questions :  What  phases 
of  Botany  best  develop  the  scientific  instincts  ?  and, 
What  knowledge  of  plants  is  educationally  most  use- 
ful to  the  average  man  ? 

Of  all  scientific  instincts,  the  very  foremost  in  im- 


WHAT  BOTANY   IS  OF  MOST  WORTH  ?  33 

portance  is  that  for  exact  observation.  No  others 
can  be  of  much  value  if  it  be  lacking;  hence  training 
in  it  should  be  the  first  care  of  any  course.  For 
training  in  observation,  anatomy,  dealing  with  actual 
structure,  is  the  best  possible  discipline.  In  order  to 
secure  concentration  upon  it,  and  not  to  distract  the 
attention  by  too  many  novelties,  the  earlier  laboratory 
exercises  of  any  course  should  be  upon  objects  already 
somewhat  familiar,  with  clearly  defined  characters,  and 
large  enough  to  need  no  tools,  but  only  the  naked 
eye  and  hand.  Answering  to  these  demands,  there  is 
nothing  known  to  me  better  than  large  seeds,  which 
have  the  further  advantages  of  being  easy  to  obtain 
and  in  condition  for  study  at  all  seasons,  as  well  as 
a  logical  point  of  beginning  for  the  study  of  the  cycle 
of  plant-life.  The  correct  sizes  and  shapes  of  these 
seeds,  the  exact  kinds  and  relative  positions  of  all  of 
the  markings  on  the  coats  and  their  relations  to  the 
parts  of  the  embryo  inside,  the  number  of  the  coats, 
the  full  number  of  parts  in  the  embryo,  and  the  exact 
way  they  are  put  together,  all  afford  under  the  skilled 
teacher  fine  materials  for  practice  in  observation,  a 
failure  to  succeed  in  which  cannot  be  laid  to  inability 
to  use  instruments  or  ignorance  of  how  to  begin  work. 
It  is  active  seeing,  not  passive  looking,  which  consti- 
tutes observation. n  Later  the  seeds  may  be  germinated, 
and  the  exact  place  and  mode  of  appearance  of  new 
structures,  the  position  of  newer  leaves  relatively  to  the 
D 


34  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

older,  how  the  veins  branch  and  end  in  the  leaf,  where 
the  flowers  appear,  etc.,  will  afford  extremely  good 
materials  for  training  in  observation,  and  of  the  most 
direct  sort.  Tools  may  gradually  be  introduced  as  the 
need  for  them  is  felt,  at  first  but  a  knife  for  simple 
dissection,  then  a  lens  to  help  the  eye,  and  later  the 
dissecting  microscope  to  aid  hand  and  eye  together. 
It  is  only  after  much  practice  with  these  simple  appli- 
ances that  the  compound  microscope  should  be  intro- 
duced, and  then  in  such  a  way  as  to  impress  upon 
students  its  true  function  as  simply  an  aid  to  vision. 
To  begin  a  course  with  objects  needing  the  use  of  the 
compound  microscope,  that  is,  to  introduce  the  use  of 
the  most  special  tool  before  eye  and  hand  have  had 
some  training  by  themselves,  is  not  only  illogical  in 
theory,  but,  as  I  and  many  other  teachers  know  from 
experience,  wasteful  in  practice.  It  produces  a  long 
and  despairing  floundering  about  from  which  balance 
and  stability  are  but  slowly  regained.  Moreover,  it 
impresses  a  wrong  ideal  of  scientific  work,  implying 
as  it  does  that  there  is  some  sovereign  virtue  in  elabo- 
rate instruments,  thus  tending  to  elevate  these  to  a 
rank  above  their  proper  grade  of  mere  aids  to  eye 
and  hand.  After  the  use  of  this  instrument  has  been 
learned,  however,  microscopical  anatomy  is  one  of  the 
best  of  disciplines  for  training  in  observation. 

Next  among   the  scientific  instincts    I    would   place 
that   for   critical    comparison    and    generalization,  the 


WHAT  BOTANY   IS  OF   MOST  WORTH?  35 

morphological  instinct.  It  consists  both  in  a  power 
to  compare  a  series  and  eliminate  what  is  individual 
and  unimportant  from  what  is  common  to  a  number 
and  important,  and  also  in  a  power,  by  comparison 
of  different  stages  of  development,  to  trace  back  dif- 
fering forms  to  their  common  origin,  or  similar  forms 
to  their  different  origins,  as  the  case  may  be.  For 
training  in  this  power,  so  important  in  all  phases  of 
human  activity,  nothing  is  better  than  morphology, 
the  introduction  to  which  is  best  made  through  forms 
which  are  large  and  plain  enough  to  need  no  tools, 
but  only  the  unaided  eye  and  .thought.  For  this  the 
embryos  in  seeds,  which  show  homologous  parts  under 
the  greatest  diversity  of  size  and  form,  are  particularly 
good,  especially  since  they  may  so  easily  be  traced 
through  stages  of  germination  and  growth  where 
actual  proof  of  their  analogies  and  some  of  their 
homologies  may  be  found.  Best  of  all  for  morpho- 
logical training,  and  most  used,  are  the  shoot  (leaf 
and  stem),  root,  flower,  and  fruit,  of  the  higher  plants. 
It  is  true  that  minute  plants  also  offer  extremely  good 
materials  for  morphology  and  anatomy,  but  they  re- 
quire the  use  of  unfamiliar  tools  and  methods,  and  it 
is  better  at  first  to  use  materials  in  which  the  atten- 
tion need  not,  by  purely  mechanical  conditions,  be 
distracted  from  the  real  problems. 

Next  among  scientific  instincts  comes  faith  in  cau- 
sality, involving  the  belief  that  every  phenomenon  is 


36  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

yoked  with  preceding  factors,  combined  with  a  desire 
to  learn  what  these  are.  For  the  cultivation  of  this 
instinct  of  causation,  anatomy  and  morphology  should, 
from  the  first,  be  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  factors 
determining  them,  that  is,  they  should  be  approached 
through  physiology  and  ecology.  It  is  an  important 
and  valuable  discipline  to  study  the  exact  way  in 
which  leaves  are  built,  and  to  learn  their  diverse 
forms  arid  special  modifications ;  but  only  a  fraction 
of  the  value  of  this  study  is  realized  unless  it  is  made 
in  the  spirit  of  constant  inquiry,  which  asks  why  they 
are  flat,  and  horizontal,  and  thin,  and  greener  on  the 
upper  than  on  the  lower  surfaces,  and  why  they  have 
become  compounded  or  altered  to  spines  or  provided 
with  stipules.  It  is  not,  however,  enough  to  simply 
ask  these  questions ;  the  habit  of  actively  seeking  the 
answers  to  them  must  be  inculcated.  And  the  answers 
come  in  part  through  observation,  but  more  through 
experiment.  Indeed,  so  important  a  factor  is  experi- 
ment in  elucidating  causation  that  one  may  almost 
speak  of  the  causative  instinct  and  the  experimental 
instinct  as  synonymous.  The  cultivation  of  the  habit 
of  testing  the  connection  of  causes  and  effects  by 
experiment  is  therefore  a  most  important  part  of 
botanical  training.  An  experiment  is  a  definite  ques- 
tion asked  of  nature,  and  properly  follows  after  all 
possible  observation  and  reflection,  and  is  most  often 
a  testing  of  possible  hypotheses  suggested  by  this 


WHAT  BOTANY   IS  OF  MOST  WORTH  ?  37 

reflection.  For  cultivation  of  the  experimental  instinct 
of  this  definite  kind,  there  is  nothing  in  Botany  to 
equal  simple  physiological  experiment  upon  such  topics 
as  respiration,  photosynthesis,  absorption,  geotropism, 
where  the  object  'of  the  experiment  is  perfectly  dis- 
tinct, and  the  results  obtained  are  positive  and  logi- 
cally conclusive. 

Practically,  physiological  experiments  most  profita- 
bly come  along  with  the  particular  structures  which 
they  best  explain.  Thus,  experiment  upon  absorption 
of  liquids  should  accompany  study  of  the  structure  of 
the  root,  photosynthesis  that  of  the  leaf,  respiration  that 
of  growing  seeds,  etc.  In  the  same  way  topics  of 
ecology  should  accompany  the  study  of  the  structures 
best  explained  by  them ;  seed  locomotion  accompanies 
the  study  of  seed-structure,  locomotion  of  pollen  that 
of  the  flower,  etc.  It  is  sometimes  maintained  that 
general  physiology  and  ecology,  particularly  the  for- 
mer, should  be  taken  up  before  anything  else,  and, 
theoretically,  this  view  appears  correct.  But  for  most 
teachers  this  plan  would  have  in  practice  great  diffi- 
culties, since  the  student  would  not  only  be  plunged 
at  once  into  a  sea  of  unfamiliar  phenomena,  but  also 
would  have  his  attention  distracted  by  the  use  of  many 
unfamiliar  instruments  and  methods.  He  would  finally 
gain  a  correct  proportioning  of  the  subject,  but  only 
after  a  great  loss  of  time  and  energy.  And,  more- 
over, I  think  all  the  value  of  making  physiology  thus 


38  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

form  the  introduction  to  structure  is  realized  in  study- 
ing them  side  by  side,  the  physiological  or  ecological 
observation  or  experiment  accompanying  the  observa- 
tional study  of  structure.  Structure,  which  is  some- 
thing real  and  placeable  in  concrete  form  before  the 
student,  and  already  more  or  less  familiar,  will  probably 
always  constitute  the  best  skeleton  for  an  elementary 
course. 

Another  scientific  faculty  of  the  greatest  importance 
is  that  of  estimating  evidence  to  the  formation  of  con- 
clusions that  are  to  be  held  as  logically  proven,  as 
probable,  as  possible,  etc.  For  this,  again,  physiologi- 
cal experiment  is  particularly  good.  Another  power 
is  that  phase  of  imagination  known  as  visualization, 
the  ability  to  project  before  the  mind  vivid  images 
of  real  structures,  and  to  build  up  complete  images 
from  isolated  data.  For  this,  microscopic  anatomy  is 
particularly  well  adapted;  the  microscope  shows  at 
any  one  time  hardly  more  than  a  single  plane  of  an 
object,  and  it  is  only  from  a  number  of  views  that 
an  image  of  the  entire  object  can  be  constructed.  A 
power  of  visualization  is  a  great  aid  to  generalization. 
All  of  these  faculties  and  powers  are  elements  in 
Induction,  to  cultivate  the  habit  or  instinct  for  which 
is,  of  course,  the  first  object  of  the  science  teacher. 

Another  very  important  power  which  scientific  study, 
with  its  basis  of  exact  data,  is  peculiarly  adapted  to 
promote  is  that  for  terse,  logical,  complete  expression, 


WHAT  BOTANY  IS  OF  MOST  WORTH?  39 

a  subject  so  important  that  it  is  treated  fully  in  a 
later  chapter.  It  is  in  this  connection  that  descrip- 
tive work  in  Botany,  including  the  use  of  exact  termi- 
nology, is  held,  and  I  think  rightly,  to  be  of  great 
value.  On  this  ground  many  teachers  make  much 
use  of  blank  forms  for  description,  lists  of  descriptive 
terms,  etc.  Unhappily,  however,  instead  of  being  kept 
in  its  proper  subordinate  position,  this  kind  of  disci- 
pline is  too  often  given  the  leading  place,  and  this  is 
at  present  the  greatest  defect  in  botanical  teaching 
in  this  country.  It  places  instruction  in  description 
of  a  particular  phase  of  plant-structure  before  the 
study  of  the  leading  facts  of  plant-life.  It  is  not  that 
this  work  is  not  valuable,  but  simply  that  it  is  not 
the  most  valuable  way  in  which  the  student's  time 
and  labor  may  be  spent ;  nor  is  it  at  all  representative 
of  the  present  state  of  botanical  science. 

Among  other  advantages  inculcated  by  scientific, 
and  hence  botanical,  study  may  be  mentioned :  intel-  / 
lectual  honesty,  without  which  no  real  scientific  work 
can  be  done,  involving  impatience  of  affectations  and 
genuineness  of  character;  the  habit  of  objectivity  and 
elimination  of  anthropomorphism,  essential  to  a  true 
understanding  of  humanity  as  well  as  of  the  remain- 
der of  nature ;  intellectual  independence  needful  to 
all  higher  mental  work. 

If   these  conclusions  as  to  the  worth  of  the  differ- 
ent phases  of  Botany  in  the  training  of  the  scientific 


40  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

faculties  are  correct,  it  follows  that  no  good  "botanical 
course  aiming  at  real  scientific  training  can  afford  to 
confine  itself  to  any  one  phase  of  the  subject,  but 
must  treat  it  synthetically  to  realize  its  best  possibili- 
ties. It  is  true  no  ordinary  course  can  carry  out  this 
plan  to  its  logical  extreme,  but  it  sets  an  ideal  toward 
which  to  work. 

We  must  next  ask  what  Botany  is  of  most  worth  as 
knowledge  to  the  average  man  of  education.  An  ele- 
mentary course  must  take  careful  account  of  this,  since 
the  great  majority  of  students  go  no  further  in  the  sub- 
ject, and  the  course  must  be  made  complete  in  itself  for 
them,  as  well  as  a  foundation  for  those  who  do  continue 
into  higher  work.  The  most  important  knowledge,  I 
should  say,  is  that  which,  when  a  man  looks  upon  the 
world  of  plants,  enables  him  to  know  those  facts  and 
principles  about  them  which  are  most  fundamental, 
wide-reaching,  and  illuminating.  Such  are,  —  the  real 
position  of  plants  in  nature,  how  they  live,  why  they 
have  their  shapes  and  colors,  how  they  are  made,  how 
each  one  fits  so  exactly  its  individual  surroundings,  and 
what  are  the  principal  kinds  of  them.  To  understand 
their  real  place  in  nature,  one  must  know  at  first  hand 
the  process  of  food-making  in  sunlight  through  chloro- 
phyll, and  what  it  means  to  other  organisms ;  to  know 
how  they  live,  one  must  know  their  leading  physiologi- 
cal processes,  absorption,  respiration,  reproduction;  to 
know  how  they  are  made,  one  must  know  the  nature 


WHAT  BOTANY   IS   OF   MOST   WORTH  ?  41 

of  cells  and  tissues,  and  the  influences  controlling  their 
distribution,  and  also  the  morphological  composition  of 
plants  and  the  possibilities  of  great  variation  upon  each 
structure  after  it  is  once  formed ;  to  know  the  meaning 
of  their  shapes,  colors,  and  sizes,  one  must  know  the 
leading  principles  of  adaptation  to  the  external  world; 
to  know  how  each  fits  its  individual  situation,  one  must 
know  the  nature  of  irritability;  to  know  the  principal 
kinds,  one  must  study  them  by  groups,  and  their  rela- 
tions in  a  system  of  classification. 

The  most  -fundamental  and  illuminating  knowledge 
about  plants  must  surely  be  that  which  concerns  their 
life  ;  yet  some  of  its  most  important  phases  are  those 
least  studied.  Irritability,  for  example,  which  answers 
in  plants  to  sensation  in  animals,  is,  next  to  photo- 
synthesis, their  most  important  power,  explaining  as  it 
does  hdw  the  plant  directs  its  growing  parts  from  the 
very  moment  it  bursts  from  the  seed,  how  it  places  its 
roots,  stems,  branches,  leaves,  flowers,  and  guides  all  its 
movements  into  definite  and  advantageous  directions.  I 
often  reflect  with  astonishment  upon  the  almost  utter 
neglect  of  this  most  important  phase  of  plant-life  in 
botanical  education,  and  this  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that 
its  experimental  study  is  comparatively  easy.  Yet  many 
"other  physiological  phenomena  of  well-nigh  equal  impor- 
tance are  likewise  neglected,  and  even  photosynthesis  is 
often  ignored.  The  lack  of  attention  to  ecology  is  not 
unnatural  in  view  of  its  comparative  newness,  but  rich 


42  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

material  for  its  use  is  rapidly  accumulating,  and  will  form 
a  large  element  in  the  good  courses  of  the  future. 

Very  important,  too,  as  knowledge  is  an  acquaintance 
with  the  different  kinds  of  plants,  their  modes  of  life  and 
relationships.  This  kind  of  study  may  well  be  termed 
Natural  History,  which  is  much  broader  than  structure 
and  classification,  for  it  takes  account  of  habits  that 
explain  structure.  One  limited  phase  of  this  subject  — 
the  structure  and  classification  of  the  flowering  plants  — 
is  more  studied  in  this  country  than  any  other  phase 
of  Botany,  and  it  is  usually  supplemented  by  copious 
memorizing  of  terminology,  and  often  by  much  labor  in 
the  preparation  of  collections,  all  of  which,  while  not 
without  value,  is  yet  sadly  insufficient  and  unrepresenta- 
tive of  the  science.  The  study  of  the  Natural  History  of 
Plants,  in  order  to  be  valuable,  should  be  comprehensive 
and  cover  all  of  the  leading  kinds ;  but  since  time  will 
not  permit  this  to  be  done  in  any  great  detail,  it  is  need- 
ful to  select  from  each  group  a  few  of  the  most  typical 
and  important  forms,  those  which  best  illustrate  the 
relations  of  the  group  to  others  and  its  position  in  the 
plant-world,  and  to  study  these  carefully.  I  think  it  is 
much  more  profitable  to  study  all  of  the  groups,  Algae, 
Fungi,  Lichens,  Bryophytes,  etc.,  in  this  way  than  to 
study  more  minutely  any  one  or  even  several  of  them. 
By  some  teachers  this  study  of  groups  is  made  of  first 
importance  and  takes  precedence  of  the  study  of  prin- 
ciples which  is  here  recommended  ;  this  is  without  ques- 


WHAT  BOTANY  IS  OF  MOST  WORTH  ?  43 

tion  a  very  profitable  method  (though  in  my  opinion  not 
the  most  profitable),  particularly  if  it  is  well  proportioned 
and  covers  all  groups.  Some,  however,  rather  concen- 
trate attention  upon  the  lower  groups  and  give  a  thor- 
ough course  in  Algae  and  Fungi.  From  the  point  of  view 
of  botanical  knowledge  for  the  average  non-specialist,  I 
think  this  is  unwise;  for  while  it  is  most  desirable  to 
know,  for  example,  Fungi  as  a  group,  what  their 
mode  of  nutrition  is,  and  reproduction,  and  their  general 
relations  with  the  Algae,  and  also  to  know  forms  of  such 
economic  importance  as  the  Bacteria,  or  of  such  promi- 
nence as  Moulds  or  Mushrooms,  it  is  not  so  important 
to  spend  time  upon  studying  the  minor  groups  whose 
differences  are  so  slight  as  to  need  a  microscope  to  make 
them  even  visible.  Knowledge  of  things  he  can  see  with 
his  own  eyes  in  the  world  about  him  is  more  important 
to  the  student  than  knowledge  of  things  which  he  can 
only  detect  by  use  of  special  instruments,  though  this  is 
true  only  in  general  and  with  many  exceptions;  but  it 
emphasizes  the  value  of  a  comprehensive  study  of  all  of 
the  groups  rather  than  a  more  special  study  of  a  few, 
particularly  if  the  latter  be  of  the  lower  and  smaller 
plants. 

As  to  the  use  of  Manuals  and  the  determination  of 
species  of  the  higher  plants  by  their  use,  —  a  subject 
which  forms  the  major  part  of  the  Botany  taught  in  our 
elementary  courses,  —  I  doubt  if  this  should  necessarily 
form  a  part  of  any  regular  course  in  high  school  or 


44  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

college.  Its  proper  place  is  in  the  lower  schools,  where 
children  learn  names  easily  and  with  pleasure.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  ninety-five  hundredths  of  those  who  are  later 
taught  to  use  a  Manual  and  make  a  collection  in  school 
or  college  never  again  look  at  either,  and  very  soon  for- 
get how  to  use  the  one  and  where  they  have  put  the  other. 
Therefore,  I  do  not  think  it  is  right  to  take  time  in  which 
all  students  may  be  taught  illuminating  and  fundamental 
facts  and  principles  they  will  be  slow  to  forget,  and  in 
which  they  may  be  gaining  a  training  which  will  be  of 
use  to  them  in  any  occupation  of  life,  for  learning  how 
to  look  up  the  names  of  plants  in  a  book;  especially 
as  any  person  of  fair  intelligence  who  cares  at  all  for 
it  can  pick  up  the  names  of  common  plants  in  other 
ways  much  more  easily.  Some  knowledge  of  the  main 
divisions  of  the  flowering  plants,  and  of  some  of  the 
leading  families,  comes  naturally  in  the  study  of  Natural 
History  of  the  Group  of  Spermatophytes.  Still,  the 
ability  to  use  Manuals,  and  some  knowledge  of  classifi- 
cation of  the  higher  plants,  is  invaluable  to  certain 
students,  especially  to  those  who  continue  their  studies, 
and  to  many  to  whom  it  is  an  agreeable  hobby.  Oppor- 
tunity for  systematic  study  should  therefore  be  given 
to  such  students,  but  this  can  readily  be  done  through 
voluntary  classes  of  those  interested  working  at  odd 
times  —  a  system  I  have  myself  thoroughly  tested,  and 
use  to  my  entire  satisfaction. 

Any  course  embodying  the  ideas  here  set  forth  must 


WHAT   BOTANY   IS  OF   MOST   WORTH?  45 

necessarily  represent  a  compromise  between  many  dif- 
ferent and  often  conflicting  considerations.  Such  a 
compromise,  following  the  recommendations  in  this 
chapter,  and  in  every  detail  worked  out  in  the  labora- 
tory, is  given  in  the  Outlines  contained  in  Part  II  of 
this  book.  They  have  two  Divisions.  The  First 
includes  the  Principles  of  the  Science  of  Botany, 
worked  out  by  following  the  higher  plant  through 
its  cycle  of  seed,  seedling,  adult,  flower,  fruit,  to  seed 
again,  the  unfolding  of  each  successive  organ  being 
made  the  basis  for  the  study  of  the  physiological  or 
ecological  principles  controlling  its  development.  The 
Second  Division  includes  the  Natural  History  of  the 
Groups  of  Plants  from  Algae  to  Spermatophytes ;  here 
the  principles  learned  in  Division  I  are  applied  to  the 
understanding  of  the  place  in  nature  of  the  leading 
groups  and  their  most  important  representatives. 

The  conclusion  of  this  chapter  then  is  this,  that  from 
all  points  of  view  the  most  valuable  elementary  course 
in  Botany  is  a  synthetic  one,  which  confines  itself  to  no 
one  phase  or  division  of  the  science,  but  takes  from 
each  what  it  has  of  most  value  to  offer. 


III.     ON   THINGS   ESSENTIAL   TO   GOOD 
BOTANICAL  TEACHING 

THE  true  teacher  of  Botany,  as  of  any  other  subject, 
is  born  not  made.  But  a  chief  birthmark  is  a  deter- 
mination for  incessant  improvement. 

Certainly  the  first  acquirable  quality  of  a  good 
teacher  is  a  thorough  botanical  education.  This  can 
best  be  obtained  by  a  full  course  in  some  one  of  our 
leading  colleges  which  possess  properly  organized  de- 
partments of  Botany,  which,  unhappily,  some  of  them 
do  not.  In  this,  as  in  other  matters,  it  is  well  to 
remember  that  it  pays  to  have  the  best.  Without 
doubt  in  the  future  the  teachers  of  Botany  in  the 
high  schools  as  well  as  the  colleges  will  be  thus 
trained,  for  there  is  a  strong  and  healthful  tendency 
for  the  schools  to  employ  specialists,  and  also  for 
the  colleges  to  train  them  even  as  undergraduates. 
It  is  true  that  in  most  schools  a  single  subject  can- 
not have  a  teacher  to  itself,  but  it  can  be  one  of  a 
very  few  related  subjects. 

Next  in  value  comes  attendance  at  summer  schools, 
which  several  of  the  principal  universities  maintain  in 
the  holidays  for  those  who  cannot  attend  the  winter 
sessions.  The  obvious  objection  to  these,  that  they 

46 


THINGS   ESSENTIAL  TO   BOTANICAL  TEACHING        47 

impose  hard  work  at  a  time  when  the  teacher  should 
be  resting,  is  not  so  great  as  it  seems.  The  change 
in  occupation,  surroundings,  and  companions  brings  so 
much  relief  in  itself,  that  the  work  is  less  felt;  and 
besides,  if  the  learner's  spirit  is  of  the  right  sort,  and 
the  teaching  is  of  the  true  quality,  the  pleasure  of  it 
all  should  go  far  to  lighten  the  labor.  In  my  own  ex- 
perience, too,  I  have  found  that  there  is  more  rest  in 
change  of  occupation  than  in  absence  of  it.  Perhaps 
the  mind  is  in  this  like  the  soil,  that  it  does  not  need 
to  lie  fallow,  but  can  continue  to  bear  without  exhaus- 
tion if  given  a  wise  rotation  of  crops.  Of  all  the 
excellent  summer  schools  in  this  country,  however, 
that  which  is  in  my  opinion  the  most  profitable  to 
the  teacher  is  the  Marine  Biological  Laboratory  at 
Wood's  Roll,  Massachusetts,  which  belongs  to  no  single 
institution,  but  to  them  all.  Here,  in  addition  to  the 
excellent  courses  and  the  great  facilities,  there  are 
opportunities  unrivalled  in  this  country  for  that  ac- 
quaintance with  co-workers  and  specialists,  and  that 
scientific  atmosphere,  which  are  worth  to  the  teacher 
as  much  as  the  instruction  itself. 

After  summer  schools,  and  long  after,  comes  study 
by  one's  self. »  But  this  to  be  efficient  should  be  actual 
practical  laboratory  study  done  under  the  advice  and 
criticism  of  some  specialist.  Study  without  guidance 
is  sure  to  be  full  of  gaps  and  bad  in  its  proportions. 
Correspondence  courses,  which  some  institutions  offer, 


48  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

are  better  than  nothing,  but  are  a  very  poor  substitute 
indeed,  especially  in  the  sciences,  for  contact  with  a 
skilled  teacher.  No  doubt  books  could,  and  in  time 
will,  be  prepared  as  guides  for  those  who  must  study 
alone,  but  at  present  hardly  any  exist.1  Much  good 
may  be  obtained  from  reading,  but  only  as  supplemen- 
tary to  the  actual  study  of  botanical  objects,  never  as 
a  substitute  for  it.  To  attempt  to  truly  know  Botany 
from  books  is  like  expecting  to  acquire  the  advantages 
of  a  European  tour  from  the  reading  of  guide-books, 
or  like  trying  to  form  intimate  friendships  through  the 
exchange  of  letters.  In  another  part  of  this  work  (VII. 
On  Books)  will  be  found  further  suggestions  upon 
reading,  and  lists  of  books  that  can  be  recommended. 

Whenever  advice  is  needed  about  books  or  any  other 
botanical  matters,  the  teacher  should  not  hesitate  to 
write  to  some  botanical  specialist,  as,  for  example,  the 
Professor  of  Botany  at  the  nearest  large  university. 
Most  specialists  take  pleasure  in  assisting  any  earnest 
inquirer,  and  many  of  them  welcome  this  method  of 
extending  their  own  usefulness  as  teachers. 

There  is  one  feature  of  the  education  of  the  teaching 
botanist  so  important  as  to  deserve  particular  emphasis, 
i.e.  the  performance  of  some  work  in  original  inves- 

1  Strasburger's  "  Das  kleine  botanische  Practicum  "  (English  translation 
by  Hillhouse,  under  the  name  of  "  Practical  Botany  ")  could  thus  be  used, 
and  with  great  profit,  in  plant  anatomy  ;  and  Bailey's  "  Lessons  with 
Plants "  would  form  a  good  guide  for  such  study  in  general  elementary 
work. 


THINGS   ESSENTIAL  TO   BOTANICAL  TEACHING       49 

tigation.  Good  scientific  teaching  consists  above  all 
things  in  the  application  of  that  natural,  independent, 
inductive  spirit  which  is  the  only  basis  of  scientific 
progress ;  and  only  he  can  properly  apply  it  who  has 
himself  experienced  it.  The  college  graduate,  if  his 
undergraduate  work  has  been  of  the  right  sort,  has 
had  some  of  this  training,  for  undergraduate  courses 
at  their  best  are  carried  on  in  the  investigation  spirit; 
they  constitutute  a  series  of  problems  which  subjec- 
tively are  original  investigation,  whence  the  transition 
to  objective  investigation  in  the  graduate  courses  of 
the  university  is  easy  and  natural.  But  in  addition  to 
this,  a  year  or  more  of  graduate  investigation  will  tell 
very  greatly  for  the  better  quality  of  the  teacher's 
work,  especially  if  he  continues  investigation  after- 
ward. Where  graduate  study  is  impossible,  the  teacher 
will  do  well  to  take  up  some  problem  for .  himself. 
Under  present  conditions  it  is  becoming  nearly  impos- 
sible to  do  good  original  work  in  anatomy,  morphol- 
ogy, or  physiology  away  from  the  facilities  of  the 
universities;  but  happily  there  is  a  great  field  with 
abundant  problems  in  the  comparatively  new  study  of 
ecology.  The  habits  of  even  the  commonest  plants, 
especially  in  their  relations  to  the  other  organisms 
about  them,  are  very  imperfectly  known ;  and  there 
is  not  a  section  of  any  country  in  which  there  is  not 
inviting  opportunity  of  this  kind.  Especially  attractive 
at  the  present  time  are  the  problems  of  ecological 
E 


5O  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

plant  geography,  —  the  study  of  the  reasons  why  each 
plant  stands  where  it  is,  and  is  of  the  form,  size,  and 
texture  it  is.  Very  attractive,  too,  are  the  problems 
in  modes  of  locomotion  of  our  common  plants,  and 
in  the  mechanisms  of  cross-pollination  of  many  of 
them.  The  construction  of  a  local  flora  in  which  each 
plant  is  not  only  listed,  but  located  ecologically,  is 
everywhere  possible,  and  would  be  both  scientifically 
and  subjectively  profitable. 

There  is  yet  another  line  of  original  research  open 
to  the  teacher,  —  the  investigation  into  better  and  more 
economical  ways  of  utilizing  the  science  in  education. 
There  is  here  opportunity  for  doing  very  great  ser- 
vice in  the  selection  and  demonstration  of  the  most 
profitable  topics,  in  the  invention  of  simpler  and  more 
logically  conclusive  experiments  for  proving  the  most 
fundamental  principles,  in  the  discovery  of  more  illus- 
trative materials  for  the  different  phases  of  the  study, 
in  a  word,  for  the  deduction  of  such  outlines  as  are 
offered  in  this  work,  and  for  their  great  improvement. 
And  this  line  of  investigation  is  as  legitimate,  as  diffi- 
cult, and  as  important  for  the  advancement  of  botanical 
science  as  is  the  elucidation  of  vegetative  points,  chro- 
mosome numbers,  or  transpiration  currents. 

Not  only  does  the  study  of  original  problems  increase 
the  teacher's  power,  but  it  adds  intensely  to  the  interest 
of  his  life  and  profession.  The  perennial  freshness 
which  accompanies  constant  progress  goes  far  to  coun- 


THINGS  ESSENTIAL  TO  BOTANICAL  TEACHING        5  I 

terbalance  that  monotony  of  yearly  repetition  of  class- 
work  which  is  the  greatest  drawback  to  the  life  of  a 
teacher. 

A  thorough  botanical  education  stands  so  far  above 
all  other  needs  for  good  botanical  teaching  that  any  con- 
sideration of  the  cultivation  of  special  qualities,  or  of 
the  use  of  special  methods,  seems  hardly  to  belong  in 
the  same  chapter.  There  are,  however,  qualities  which 
may  be  cultivated  to  the  great  profit  of  the  botanical 
teacher,  and  methods  which,  like  other  fine  labor-saving 
tools,  enable  the  skilled  workman  to  do  yet  better  work, 
and  these  it  will  be  worth  while  briefly  to  consider. 

Many  of  the  qualities  essential  to  good  botanical 
teaching  are,  of  course,  the  same  as  are  needed  for 
success  in  any  teaching;  these  are  the  qualities  con- 
stituting the  teaching  temperament.  This  consists  in 
a  deep-seated  pleasure  in  the  exercise  of  guiding  minds 
from  ignorance  to  knowledge,  and  in  seeing  the  light 
dawn  through  darkness ;  in  a  power  of  positive  self- 
reliant  leadership ;  in  ability  to  project  one's  self  into 
the  student's  mental  position ;  and  in  a  personality  that 
can  win  respect  and  affection.  Of  all  these  character- 
istics, sympathy  is  one  of  the  most  important ;  for  the 
good  teacher  is,  first  of  all,  a  mental  physician  of  the 
truest  sort,  diagnosing  each  individual  case,  and  fitting 
its  proper  treatment  to  it.  He  is  a  leader,  and  not  a 
driver.  He  is  always  an  uncompromising  though  genial 
critic,  using  sarcasm  only  for  otherwise  incorrigible 


52  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

cases.  He  diplomatically  makes  use  of  all  devices  for 
arousing  interest  and  holding  attention.  Especially  is 
he  ever  investigating,  experimenting,  and  improving  in 
his  teaching,  reading  newer  books  upon  it,  and  keeping 
in  touch  with  educational  progress  as  shown  in  the 
educational  journals.  It  is,  indeed,  only  by  constant 
advance  that  he  can  escape  that  mental  drying-up, 
which  is  the  greatest  danger,  and  too  often  the  most 
obvious  badge,  of  the  teaching  profession.  And  he 
has  a  deep  respect  for  his  profession,  views  it  as  his 
life  work,  and  upon  every  possible  occasion  cham- 
pions its  interests. 

There  are  one  or  two  practices  in  general  teaching 
which  I  think  are  not  only  bad  in  themselves,  but 
particularly  so  in  scientific  teaching.  Of  these,  one 
of  the  worst  is  the  devotion  of  a  larger  amount  of 
time  and  energy  to  the  dull  students  than  to  the 
brighter  ones,  a  practice  rendered  almost  inevitable 
by  the  systems  of  grading  now  widely  in  use.  It  is 
always  to  be  remembered  that  education  cannot  under- 
take to  make  a  new  man,  but  only  to  make  the  best  of 
what  man  there  is,  and  the  good  student  is  as  entitled 
as  is  the  poor  one  to  have  the  very  best  made  of  him. 
Children  are  born  most  unequal  in  mental  powers, 
and  to  attempt  to  bring  dull  pupils  up  to  near  the 
standard  of  the  bright  ones  is  not  only  a  sad  waste 
of  energy  upon  an  impossibility,  but  is  as  well  -a  great 
injustice  to  those  who  are  brighter,  for  they  are  de- 


THINGS  ESSENTIAL  TO  BOTANICAL  TEACHING        53 

frauded  of  their  rightful  share  of  the  time  and  energy 
of  the  teacher.  School  and  college  are,  after  all,  but 
a  preparation  for  the  world  outside,  and  the  principles 
controlling  human  society  generally  should  surely  be 
used  as  a  guide  in  education.  The  world  at  large 
does  not  leave  its  brighter  members  to  shift  for  them- 
selves and  devote  itself  to  the  elevation  of  the  dull 
ones,  and  it  will  save  the  dull  students  and  their  fami- 
lies much  disappointment  later  if  they  are  allowed  to 
find  their  own  \  level  in  school  or  college.  I  do  not 
mean  that  the  dull  students  are  to  be  neglected  by 
the  teacher,  but  simply  that  they  are  to  receive  only 
their  fair  share  of  attention,  and  that  it  is  just  as 
much  the  teacher's  duty  to  take  time  to  lead  on  the 
best  pupils  into  still  higher  achievement  as  to  urge 
the  duller  to  greater  efforts. 

Again,  it  cannot  be  too  often  nor  strongly  empha- 
sized in  education,  as  in  development  of  the  body, 
that  it  is  through  effort  that  strength  is  gained,  and 
through  responsibility  that  character  is  formed.  The 
great  refinement  of  methods  in  recent  years  has  had 
a  tendency  more  and  more  to  shift  the  responsi- 
bility for  learning  from  the  student  to  the  teacher, 
and  to  make  the  student  consider  that  his  duty  ends 
with  a  blind  obedience  to  the  teacher's  wishes.  This 
is  a  very  wrong  attitude ;  the  responsibility  for  learn- 
ing should  be  kept  upon  the  student,  who,  therefore, 
should  not  receive  aid  and  admonition  at  every  step 


54  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

in  his  work,  but  be  obliged  to  complete  certain  portions, 
or  topics,  to  be  judged  en  masse,  and  which  he  must 
therefore  plan  to  do  for  himself.  The  teacher  should  try 
to  cultivate  the  idea  that  it  is  a  teacher's  duty  simply 
to  provide  the  opportunity  to  learn,  while  the  responsi- 
bility of  taking  advantage  of  this  opportunity  rests 
upon  the  student.  Of  course,  this  applies  rather  to  the 
better  students ;  it  will  always  be  necessary  to  force 
the  poorer.  Again,  information  and  training  are  still 
too  often  confused,  and  the  first  place  too  often  given 
in  teaching  to  the  former,  and  this  despite  the  fact 
that  "  what  a  man  can  do  is  more  important  than  what 
he  knows"  has  become  a  commonplace  of  education. 
Training  is  immensely  more  important  than  informa- 
tion in  education,  for  many  reasons,  and  amongst 
others  for  this,  that  the  acquisition  of  information  is 
a  power  that  follows  as  a  matter  of  course  upon  train- 
ing, while  there  is  comparatively  little  training  in  the 
acquisition  of  information.  The  trained  mind  naturally, 
and  without  effort,  assimilates  information  and  trans- 
mutes it  into  knowledge,  while  the  untrained  simply 
stores  it  en  masse  to  the  limit  of  its  capacity,  all  kinds 
together.  Information,  too,  which  is  simply,  as  it  were, 
laid  upon  the  min4,  may  soon  be  forgotten,  while  train- 
ing, consisting  in  a  change  in  the  mind  itself,  always 
remains.  The  aim  of  every  teacher  should  be,  training 
before  information,  or,  in  the  words  of  President  Eliot, 
every  teacher  should  Train  for  Power. 


THINGS  ESSENTIAL  TO  BOTANICAL  TEACHING        55 

There  are  some  principles  of  scientific  education 
not  yet  everywhere  understood  as  they  should  be,  and 
the  first  of  these  is  the  absolute  necessity  for  laboratory 
instruction  and  the  almost  worthlessness  of  book  work 
alone.  To  try  to  realize  the  value  of  scientific  study 
from  books  without  laboratory  work  would  be,  as  I  have 
before  said,  like  trying  to  derive  the  advantages  of 
a  European  tour  from  the  reading  of  guide-books,  or 
the  effort  to  form  close  friendships  through  corre- 
spondence, comparisons  which  the  teacher  may  well 
use  in  answer  to  those  who  doubt  the  necessity  for 
laboratory  work. 

Again,  it  is  often  maintained  that  a  chief  object  of 
scientific  study  is  to  increase  a  love  of  nature,  or  to 
produce  a  greater  reverence  for  the  works  of  the  Cre- 
ator. On  the  contrary,  its  objects  are  utterly  different. 
If  these  things  follow  incidentally,  so  much  the  better, 
but  they  are  not  a  leading  object.  All  scientific  teach- 
ing should  be,  first  of  all,  as  clearly  cut,  distinct,  logical, 
statistical  as  possible,  and  anything  permitting  haziness 
of  ideas  should  be  rigidly  excluded.  Its  object  is  to 
help  to  train  the  intellect  to  be,  as  Huxley  puts  it,  "  a 
clear,  cold,  logic  engine,  with  all  its  parts  of  equal 
strength,  and  in  smooth  working  order."  For  these 
reasons  I  think  t'hat  both  .poetry  and  religion  should 
be  kept  out  of  scientific  laboratories.  In  the  first  place 
a  large  proportion  of  the  poetry  introduced  by  teachers 
and  taken  up  by  pupils  is  false  in  sentiment  and  of  a 


56  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

weak  and  washy  nature,  and  in  the  next  place  both 
teachers  and  students  use  it  as  a  cloak  for  hazy  ideas 
and  a  lazy  release  from  difficult  problems.  It  has  been 
my  observation  that  those  teachers  who  talk  most  of 
the  wonderful  works  of  nature,  and  of  loving  it  for 
the  Creator's  sake,  and  who  put  verses  from  the  leading 
poets  upon  the  laboratory  blackboards,  are  the  weakest 
in  the  scientific  quality  of  their  teaching.  A  great 
deal  of  nature  study  in  the  schools  is  also  blighted  by 
this  weak  sentimentalism.1  The  argument  that  poetry 
should  be  used  in  the  laboratory  to  stimulate  the  imagi- 
nation, since  the  imagination  is  of  great  scientific  use, 
is  utterly  fallacious,  for  the  kind  of  imagination  used  in 
science  is  visualization  and  generalization,  which  are 
injured  more  than  they  are  helped  by  the  lighter  plays 
of  fancy,  the  metaphors,  and  the  impressionism  of  real 
poetry.  Mathematics  is  a  much  better  training  for  the 
scientific  imagination  than  is  poetry.  Similar  objections 
apply  to  religious  ideas,  which  in  their  use  by  the  aver- 
age teacher  are  liable  to  be  misinterpreted,  and  of  more 
ultimate  injury  than  good.  When  I  say  that  poetry  and 
religion  should  be  kept  out  of  laboratories,  I  by  no  means 
say  they  are  to  be  kept  out  of  education ;  on  the  con- 
trary, I  think  they  should  be  carefully  inculcated,  but, 
like  the  sciences,  they  should  be  studied  from  their  own 

1  A  needed  warning  on  this  subject  is  given  in  "  Sentimentality  in 
Science  Teaching,"  by  E.  Thorndike,  in  the  Educational  Review  for 
January,  1899. 


THINGS   ESSENTIAL  TO  BOTANICAL  TEACHING        57 

materials  under  those  trained  in  them.  There  is  inher-" 
ently  no  more  reason  why  they  should  be  dragged  into 
scientific  laboratories  than  into  mathematics  or  athletics. 
We  shall  now  consider,  more  specifically,  good  pro- 
cedure in  the  botanical  laboratory  itself.  The  arrange- 
ment and  equipment  of  the  laboratory  room  and  the 
use  of  outlines,  note-books,  etc.,  are  considered  in  later 
parts  of  this  book.  The  number  of  students  in  one 
laboratory  division  should  not,  at  the  most,  exceed 
twenty-five  or  thirty,  unless  an  assistant  is  available, 
when  it  may  be  larger.  Two-hour  periods  are  the  best 
for  beginners.  Students  do  not  become  weary  in  that 
time,  and  shorter  periods  are  uneconomical  on  account 
of  the  time  lost  in  getting  the  work  started  and  things 
put  away  at  its  completion.  The  amount  of  work  laid 
out  for  each  period  may  best  be  adjusted  to  rather 
above  the  average  student;  and  more  exact  and 
detailed  work  may  be  expected  from  the  best  members, 
while  the  poorer  must  be  permitted  to  do  it  much  less 
completely  and  perfectly.  In  each  new  laboratory 
period  all  students  should  start  the  new  topics  together, 
uncompleted  work  of  earlier  periods  being  made  up  in 
time  outside  of  regular  hours,  for  which,  as  well  as  for 
extra  voluntary  work,  the  laboratory  should  always  be 
open.  The  actual  laboratory  work  is  best  managed  on 
the  practicum  plan,  that  is,  the  students  are  all  working 
upon  the  same  problems  or  approximately  so,  and  the 
teacher  goes  about  among  them,  giving  individual  en- 


58  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

couragement  or  criticism,  and  from  time  to  time,  as 
the  progress  of  the  work  requires,  making  suggestions, 
explanations,  or  summaries  to  the  class  as  a  whole,  and 
closing  each  period  by  a  summary  of  the  work  of  the 
day.  This  plan  does  not  in  the  least  interfere  with 
the  independence  and  value  of  individual  work  by  the 
students,  and,  on  the  average,  seems  to  me  the  most 
economical  for  conducting  elementary  classes. 

In  the  matter  of  order,  etc.,  in  the  laboratory,  the 
teacher  must  be  careful  to  preserve  the  free  and  home- 
like spirit  so  essential  to  natural  methods  of  working. 
Considerable  freedom  of  movement  and  conversation 
must  be  allowed.  Indeed,  a  silent  laboratory  would  be  a 
most  depressing  place.  Students  should,  of  course,  be 
expected  to  keep  their  own  places  and  instruments  in 
good  order,  and  to  take  a  corporate  pride  in  the  appear- 
ance of  the  laboratory  as  a  whole.  They  should  learn 
to  put  away  every  tool  after  using,  as  an  integral  part 
of  the  very  act  of  using.  They  should  learn  also  to 
work  in  physical  comfort  and  with  deliberation,  and 
to  be  exact  and  neat  in  all  their  work,  doing  it  not 
simply  well,  but  the  best  they  can.  But  of  course 
order  and  neatness  can  be  carried  too  far ;  and  there  is, 
as  in  other  things,  a  certain  optimum  of  neatness  and 
order  about  a  laboratory  that  should  be  aimed  at, 
rather  than  the  maximum,  which  demands  an  undue 
and  uneconomical  expenditure  of  labor. 

In  the  laboratory  work  everything  possible  should  be 


THINGS  ESSENTIAL  TO   BOTANICAL  TEACHING         59 

done  in  the  independent  investigation  spirit.  The  stu- 
dent should  be  led  on  by  having  each  new  thing  placed 
before  him  in  the  form  of  a  problem,  so  arranged  that 
its  solution  comes  just  within  his  own  powers.  In  gen- 
eral, nothing  should  be  told  a  student  that  he  can  find 
out  for  himself,  though  with  beginners,  where  every- 
thing is  new  and  unfamiliar,  this  principle  must  be 
followed  with  caution.  There  are  many  occasions  on 
which  it  is  best  to  tell  a  student  minor  things  outright 
to  help  him  to  the  solution  of  important  questions;  and 
there  are  other  occasions  when  leaving  him  unaided 
would  result  in  discouragement  followed  by  a  distaste 
for  the  subject.  The  best  principle  in  such  cases  is  to 
ask  a  question  or  give  a  suggestion  in  such  a  way  as 
to  allow  the  student  the  pleasure  of  finally  solving 
the  difficulty  for  himself.  It  is  in  such  points  as  this 
that  sympathy  and  judgment  count  for  so  much.  The 
teacher  will,  of  course,  constantly  use  such  common 
pedagogic  devices  as  proceeding  from  the  known  to  the 
unknown,  and  of  recalling  to  a  student  what  he  already 
knows  as  a  basis  for  building  new  knowledge  upon. 
Another  important  principle  is  the  refusal  of  the  teacher 
to  examine  any  piece  of  work  until  it  is  as  complete  as 
the  student  can  make  it.  If  the  teacher  is  willing  at 
each  step  to  tell  the  student  whether  he  is  right  or 
not,  responsibility  is  shifted  from  the  student,  who  will 
simply  do  the  mechanical  work,  and  let  the  teacher  do 
the  thinking,  thus  losing  that  training  in  self-reliance 


60  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

which  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  features  of  his  edu- 
cation. It  is  true  the  student  will  in  this  way  make 
many  mistakes  and  less  apparent  progress  than  on  the 
other  plan ;  but  in  this  world  there  is  nothing  from 
which  we  learn  so  much  as  from  our  mistakes,  and  it  is 
by  constant  struggling  and  effort  that  the  mental  fibre 
is  strengthened.  Again,  it  is  important  not  to  supply 
information,  methods,  terms,  nor  tools  until  students 
have  been  made  to  feel  a  need  for  them.  Such  things 
then  have  a  meaning,  and  make  an  impression  upon  the 
memory,  to  an  extent  impossible  when  they  are  sup- 
plied without  this  connection.  Of  course  all  laboratory 
work  is  to  be  carefully  examined  after  it  is  completed 
by  the  student,  and  should  be  marked  when  approved. 
In  my  own  experience  I  have  found  it  profitable  to 
place  a  small  oblique  mark  at  the  lower  outer  corner 
of  each  page  when  it  has  been  examined,  which  is 
made  a  cross  when  the  page  is  finally  satisfactory; 
and  the  responsibility  of  having  all  their  pages  com- 
pleted, examined,  and  checked  is  thrown  upon  the  stu- 
dents. This  examination  of  the  work  is  best  made 
with  the  student,  not  apart  from  him. 
.  The  teacher  will  always,  of  course,  keep  in  mind 
the  main  object  of  the  laboratory  work,  i.e.  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  scientific  inductive  habit  of  mind  with 
the  end  to  forming  a  scientific  instinct.  In  another 
chapter  (Chapter  II)  I  have  tried  to  trace  the  char- 
acteristics of  this  scientific  spirit.  It  consists  in  the 


THINGS   ESSENTIAL.  TO  BOTANICAL  TEACHING        6 1 

habit  of  honest,  disinterested  observation,  in  discrimi- 
native comparison,  and  in  generalization  in  proper 
logical  degrees  of  truth.  Every  effort  should  be 
made  to  cultivate  a  distrust  and  dislike  for  conclu-_ 
sions  based  upon  too  scanty  data ;  a  desire  to  go 
always  to  the  original  sources  of  information ;  and  a 
preference  for  the  evidence  of  one's  own  senses 
above  any  other  source  of  knowledge.  The  teacher 
may  measure  his  success  by  the  degree  of  mental 
independence  he  arouses  in  his  pupils.  Speculation 
should  be  encouraged,  but  not  allowed  to  escape  the 
rigid  control  of  facts.  Every  possible  play  should  be 
given  to  each  student's  individuality.  The  one  who 
has  a  taste  and  a  knack  for  experiment  should  be 
encouraged  to  become  the  class  authority  upon  ex- 
periment, and  another  the  class  artist,  and  so  on. 
Whenever  possible,  they  should  be  allowed  to  feel 
the  pleasure  and  the  stimulus  of  such  authority. 

In.  judging  the  work  done  by  the  students,  the 
teacher  should  always  remember  that  on  the  average 
the  most  profitable  point  for  which  to  aim  is  not  the 
maximum,  but  the  optimum.  It  is  a  fact  in  educa- 
tion, as  in  physiological  and  economic  phenomena, 
that  the  return  for  labor  expended  increases  up  to  a 
certain  point,  beyond  which  any  further  advance  is  made 
at  a  disproportionately  great  cost.  It  is  this  best,  or 
optimum,  point  the  teacher  should  in  general  seek ;  and 
be  should  not  compel  his  students  to  follow  refine- 


62  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

ments  too  far.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  true  that  in 
one's  own  specialty  it  is  the  maximum  that  is  profita- 
ble, and  in  the  face  of  competition  in  the  world  out- 
side it  is  the  maximum  that  most  men  are  forced  to, 
and  this  is  the  logical  end  in  art,  music,  etc.  While, 
therefore,  the  teacher  should  be  content  with  the  opti- 
mum from  the  average  student,  there  will  be  cases  of 
special  talent  where  it  is  wise  to  encourage  individ- 
uals to  the  attainment  of  their  maximum,  their  very 
best  possible. 

The  good  teacher,  too,  will  not  be  above  employ- 
ing many  little  tricks  and  devices  to  arouse  interest, 
keep  attention,  and  encourage  application.  As  the 
diplomat  and  the  politician  play  upon  the  peculiari- 
ties of  "human  nature"  and  attain  success  by  their 
knowledge  of  it,  so  may  the  teacher.  But  he  should 
ever  remember  that  Botany  is  not  an  end  in  itself, 
but  that  its  highest  aim  is  to  contribute  to  human 
welfare  and  happiness. 

An  important  part  of  good  botanical  work  is  ex- 
periment on  physiology.  Practically  this  is  difficult 
to  work  into  the  regular  laboratory  hours  with  large 
classes,  and  I  have  found,  after  trying  different  plans, 
that  it  can  best  be  managed  in  demonstration  hours, 
when  all  the  students  may  be  present  and  give  their 
undivided  attention  to  it.  The  teacher  should  then 
set  up  the  experiment  before  the  class,  carefully  ex- 
plaining, or  rather  letting  them  work  out  from  his 


THINGS   ESSENTIAL  TO  BOTANICAL  TEACHING        63 

remarks,  the  logic  of  each  step.  Each  student  should 
then  for  himself  observe  and  record  results,  and  de- 
duce conclusions  as  if  the  experiment  were  entirely 
his  own.  It  is  particularly  necessary  that  the  stu- 
dents understand  the  exact  logic  of  each  step,  and 
that  their  records  should  bring  it  out  clearly.  Their 
records,  too,  should  express  and  keep  perfectly  dis- 
tinct (a)  the  object  of  the  experiment,  (b)  the  method 
and  apparatus  employed,  (c)  the  results  actually  ob- 
served, (d)  conclusions.  Results  of  all  experiments 
should  be  expressed  precisely  and  quantitatively  when- 
ever possible,  not  only  because  of  the  greater  scien- 
tific value  of  results  of  this  kind,  but  also  for  the 
sake  of  the  pedagogic  value  of  exact  measurement, 
which  is  very  great. 

The  close  acquaintance  the  teacher  forms  with  the 
student  in  the  laboratory  makes  examinations  as  tests 
of  knowledge  unnecessary,  while  regular  essays  may 
be  made  to  give  to  some  extent  that  other  chief 
value  of  examinations,  namely,  review.  Still,  exami- 
nations for  insuring  thorough  knowledge  of  the  the- 
oretical work  are  desirable,  and  quizzes,  etc.,  have 
their  value,  varying  with  the  personality  of  the 
teacher.  Since  laboratory  work  gives  a  knowledge 
of  but  a  few  types,  and  since  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant topics  cannot  for  practical  reasons  be  studied 
in  the  laboratory  at  all,  considerable  theoretical,  as 
distinct  from  practical,  work  is  necessary.  This  is 


64  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

in  part  given  through  reading,  of  which  I  shall  speak 
elsewhere,  and  it  may  well  be  given  in  part  by  lec- 
tures or  their  equivalent.  Lectures  following  the 
laboratory  work  in  particular  topics,  which  are  then 
treated  comprehensively  and  correlated  with  others 
and  with  the  general  subject,  are  certainly  most  valu- 
able, and  full  of  meaning  to  students  after  their 
actual  practical  study,  though  they  are  of  small  value 
without  it.  The  lecture  itself  should  be  a  study  in 
induction  and  proportion,  as  fully  illustrated,  inter- 
esting, and  suggestive  as  possible.  I  have  found  in 
my  own  experience  that  the  best  balance  between 
the  different  kinds  of  instruction  is,  —  two  two-hour 
laboratory  periods  (actually  more  for  most  students), 
and  one  lecture  and  one  demonstration  (or  recitation) 
hour  a  week. 

Very  important,  too,  are  field  excursions,  the  oppor- 
tunity for  which  varies  greatly.  Theoretically,  it  might 
seem  better  if  most ,  botanical  study  could  be  done 
out  of  doors,  but  practically  the  greater  part  of  it  de- 
mands tools  and  other  facilities,  including  physical 
comfort,  unobtainable  away  from  a  good  laboratory. 
In  the  excursions  the  teacher  will  of  course  direct 
attention  to  the  larger  phenomena  of  adaptation,  the 
topography  or  physiognomy  of  the  vegetation,  the 
plant  associations,  etc.  This  kind  of  study  will  be- 
come much  easier  and  more  profitable  in  the  near 
future  as  the  subject  becomes  more  fully  systema- 


THINGS   ESSENTIAL  TO  BOTANICAL  TEACHING        65 

tized,  and  good  books  on  it  become  accessible.  It  is 
especially  important  not  to  allow  too  great  a  number 
of  students  to  go  together  on  these  excursions,  and 
in  my  own  experience  not  over  ten  can  profitably 
be  taken  at  any  one  time.  The  collecting  instinct, 
so  invaluable  to  the  naturalist,  should  at  such  times 
receive  every  possible  encouragement,  and  later  will  be 
found  suggestions  upon  its  utilization  (in  Chapter  VI). 

Finally,  it  is  well  for  the  teacher  to  teach  as  far 
as  possible  by  example,  for  here,  as  elsewhere,  it  is 
better  than  precept.  It  is  an  inspiration  to  students 
to  see  their  teacher  himself  a  student  always  striving 
to  learn  and  advance. 


IV.    ON    SCIENTIFIC    RECORDING, —  DRAW- 
ING  AND    DESCRIPTION 

IN  the  preceding  chapters  I  have  tried  to  make 
plain  the  real  aims  and  profitable  procedure  in  labo- 
ratory study.  There  is  one  phase  of  the  latter,  how- 
ever, of  such  importance  as  to  require  separate 
treatment,  namely,  the  making  of  scientific  records. 

Exact  recording  of  the  results  of  laboratory  work 
has  several  values.  It  is  of  great  utility  in  general 
education  for  the  training  it  gives  in  preciseness  and 
proportion  in  exposition  of  original  data.  Again,  it 
imposes  direction,  definiteness,  and  completeness  in 
observation  and  reasoning.  Finally,  and  pedagogi- 
cally  most  important,  it  enables  the  teacher  to  make 
sure  the  student  has  actually  and  fully  worked  out 
his  topics.  A  clever  student  may  by  verbal  answers 
alone  convey  the  impression  that  he  has-  seen  an 
object  fully,  when  in  fact  he  has  seen  it  but  superfi- 
cially ;  but  he  cannot  make  a  scientific  drawing  or 
description  of  an  object  until  he  has  first  seen  it 
accurately  and  completely,  and  realized  its  construction. 

The  aim  of  the  student  in  recording  the  results  of 
his  study  upon  any  topic  should  always  be  to  make 
his  record  a  piece  of  good  scientific  exposition,  a 

66 


SCIENTIFIC  DRAWING  AND  DESCRIPTION  6? 

model  of  concise  and  accurate  conveyance  of  his 
ideas  to  another.  In  this  he  is  to  follow  the  exam- 
ple of  the  best  scientific  monographs.  For  this  pur- 
pose both  drawings  and  descriptions  in  words  are 
needed,  each  expressing  something  the  other  cannot 
bring  out  so  clearly,  the  two  supplementing  and  not 
duplicating  one  another.  From  the  teacher's  point 
of  view,  however,  the  drawings  are  much  the  more 
important,  since  from  them  he  can  most  readily  un- 
derstand the  student's  progress.  Ability  to  draw, 
therefore,  is  an  important  element  in  a  student's 
scientific  education.  To  realize,  however,  the  full 
value  of  drawing,  it  is  necessary  that  this  shall  con- 
sist not  in  the  making  of  pictures  correct  in  perspec- 
tive and  fine  in  finish,  but  in  diagrammatic  drawings 
that  convey  to  the  mind  of  the  beholder  accurate  con- 
ceptions of  the  real  construction  of  the  object  rep- 
resented. A  diagram,  even  if  utterly  unrecognizable 
as  a  picture  of  its  object,  if  it  correctly  represents  its 
structure  with  the  aid  of  some  words  of  explanation, 
is  a  far  better  scientific  drawing  than  one  which 
arouses  admiration  by  its  fidelity  to  nature  as  a  picture, 
but  fails  to  express  actual  structure.  If  a  drawing 
can  be  at  one  and  the  same  time  an  accurate  diagram 
of  the  structure  of  an  object,  and  a  picture  giving  a 
true  impression  of  its  appearance,  so  much  the  bet- 
ter; and  indeed  this  is  the  ideal  in  scientific  drawing. 
But  diagrammatic  accuracy  is  its  first  quality. 


68  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

Drawing  in  the  laboratory  should  be  begun  only 
after  observation  of  at  least  the  main  features  of  the 
object  has  been  completed,  though  the  very  act  of 
drawing  will  call  attention  to  features  otherwise  over- 
looked. Drawings  should  at  first  not  be  idealized  or 
pieced  out  from  several  specimens,  but  rather  should  be 
accurate  delineations  of  a  selected  typical  specimen, 
which  as  soon  as  possible  the  student  should  be  taught 
to  select  from  several  presented  to  him.  In  the  very 
first  lesson,  he  should  be  given  a  fair  object,  and 
told  to  first  study  and  then  draw  it  without  help, 
himself  selecting  the  number  of  views,  etc.,  necessary 
to  illustrate  it  fully.  Most  students  under  these  cir- 
cumstances answer  in  despair  that  they  cannot  draw. 
This  answer  is  a  sad  commentary  upon  our  modern 
system  of  education,  which  so  largely  neglects  this 
most  natural,  elemental,  and  valuable  discipline,  thus 
depriving  the  student  of  training  in  an  additional  and 
most  vivid  mode  of  expression.1  Of  course  all  stu- 
dents must  be  required  to  try  to  draw,  and  if  at  first 
perspective,  shading,  etc.,  are  discouraged,  and  correct 
outlines  alone  are  insisted  upon,  all  find  that  they 
can  draw  somewhat,  and  many  find  an  unsuspected 
power  in  themselves  of  drawing  well.  Certainly,  the 

1  An  exception  should  be  made  in  favor  of  the  drawing  accompanying 
nature  study  in  many  schools.  But  this,  as  manifested  in  the  work  one  sees 
in  school  exhibitions,  is  much  less  valuable  than  it  should  be,  for  it  leans 
too  much  to  the  impressionist  and  too  little  to  the  diagrammatic  side. 
This  is,  of  course,  because  the  teachers  are  not  trained  in  scientific  drawing. 


SCIENTIFIC   DRAWING  AND   DESCRIPTION  69 

talents  of  individuals  should  receive  the  greatest 
encouragement  and  stimulation,  and  if  some  can 
accurately  shade  so  as  to  make  their  diagram  a  good 
picture,  so  much  the  better.  But  at  first  the  drawings 
must  be,  above  everything,  clear  accurate  diagrams  of 
the  actual  structure.  To  this  end  every  line  and  spot 
in  them  should  represent  something  in  the  object,  and 
no  spot  nor  line  allowed  to  the  equivalent  of  which 
in  the  object  the  student,  cannot  point.  Moreover, 
outlines  should  be  complete,  and  no  loose  ends,  nor 
hazy  joinings,  nor  dim-  angles,  should  be  permitted. 
Such  imperfections  generally  correspond  to  loose,  hazy, 
or  dim  ideas,  which  it  is  one  of  the  chief  uses  of  the 
drawing  to  remove  and  to  replace  by  clear  and  sharp 
conceptions.  It  is  for  this  reason  the  generalized  dia- 
grams, to  be  spoken  of  later,  are  of  such  great  value. 
I  have  found  that  "  rough  drawings,"  sometimes  recom- 
mended, are  of  very  little  use,  and  the  impressionist 
kinds,  often  really  beautiful,  made  under  teachers 
untrained  in  scientific  methods,  are  little  better.  The 
true  diagrammatic  drawing  takes  but  little  if  any  more 
time,  and  is  many  times  more  valuable.  Indeed,  a 
mere  "drawing"  of  an  object,  i.e.  a  representation 
of  its  appearance  to  the  eye,  a  reproduction  of.  the 
impression  the  object  makes  upon  the  beholder,  has 
very  little  if  any  scientific  value  in  connection  with 
laboratory  work,  and  is  not  worth  the  time  it  takes. 
Such  drawings  are  in  place  in  a  drawing  class,  and 


70  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

even  in  certain  phases  of  general  natural  history  study, 
but  they  reflect  not  at  all  the  clearly  cut  ideas  which 
should  characterize  the  activities  of  the  laboratory. 
Samples  of  clear  diagrammatic  drawings  may  be  seen 
later  in  this  work  (Figs.  12,  13,  14).  Practically,  the 
best  way  to  make  these  freehand  drawings  is  first 
to  outline  them  very  faintly  in  pencil,  and  then  alter 
this  outline  until  it  corresponds  to  that  of  the  object, 
after  which  a  single,  firm,  complete,  even  line  can  be 
run  over  it,  and  all  the  lighter  lines  erased.  All 
mechanical  helps,  such  as  rulers,  compasses,  etc., 
should  be  allowed  when  they  contribute  to  accuracy. 

An  important  principle  in  making  the  drawings  to 
illustrate  the  structure  of  an  object  is  economy  of 
number;  as  many  drawings  should  be  made  as  are 
necessary  fully  to  illustrate  the  object,  and  no  more. 
Thus,  for  a  seed  like  the  bean  (Fig.  12),  two  draw- 
ings are  sufficient ;  an  end  view  would  bring  out  little 
if  anything  not  already  in  the  other  two.  One  view 
of  an  object  need  not  duplicate  what  is  already  in 
another,  though  different  views  of  the  same  feature 
should  always  be  included.  The  extreme  aspects  of 
an  object  should  be  chosen  for  representation,  i.e.  a 
face  or  edge  view  should  be  an  exact  face  or  edge, 
and  not  a  quartering  view.  Of  course,  different  draw- 
ings of  the  same  object  should  be  perfectly  consistent 
as  to  size,  form,  etc. 

The  scale  of  the  drawing  in  comparison  with  the 


SCIENTIFIC  DRAWING  AND  DESCRIPTION  71 

original  object  is  very  important,  and  should  always  be 
expressed.  This  is  usually  done  in  good  monographs 
by  a  fraction  ;  if  the  drawing  is  one-half  the  size  of 
the  original,  the  fraction  J  should  be  placed  beside  the 
drawing;  if  the  drawing  is  twice  the  size  of  the  origi- 
nal object,  it  is  expressed  by  f ;  if  the  same  size,  by  \, 
and  so  forth.  The  best  general  rule  as  to  scale  is  to 
make  the  drawing  as  small  as  will  allow  all  features 
intended  to  be  represented  to  be  clearly  seen.  If, 
however,  making  clear  certain  of  the  smallest  features 
would  make  the  entire  outline  very  large,  it  is  better 
to  make  two  drawings,  one  showing  the  details  only 
upon  a  larger  scale.  It  is  well  to  give  the  students 
small  pasteboard  rulers,  preferably  on  the  metric  sys- 
tem, which  can  be  kept  in  pockets  in  the  back  of 
the  laboratory  books,  and  used  for  making  the  scale 
of  the  drawings  correct. 

The  different  features  of  the  drawings  should  be 
carefully  labelled  to  show  their  names.  The  exact 
spots  to  which  the  names  apply  should  be  shown  by 
fine  ruled  dotted  lines,  as  in  Figs.  12,  13,  14.  In 
books,  for  appearance'  sake,  usually  only  letters  are 
thus  attached  to  the  drawings,  and  the  corresponding 
names  are  given  in  an  explanation  below  or  in  the 
text.  But  in  laboratory  work  I  have  found  that  the 
extra  neatness  of  this  plan  does  not  compensate  for 
the  loss  of  time  required  of  the  teacher  to  look 
up  the  explanations,  and  I  think  it  much  better  to 


72  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

label  the  drawings  with  the  names  directly,  as  shown 
in  Figs.  12,  13,  14,  where  the  whole  subject  is  visible 
at  o%ne  glance.  For  this  labelling  a  compact  vertical 
writing,  or  even  printing,  is  desirable,  and  should 
be  cultivated  when  wanting,  and  a  compact  writing 
is  pleasing,  too,  for  the  notes.  When  one  set  of  words 
can  be  applied  to  two  or  more  drawings,  as  in  Figs. 
12,  13,  14,  it  is  an  advantage,  but  of  course  is  not 
essential.  Where  drawings  do  not  fully  explain  them- 
selves, they  should  also  be  labelled  beneath  by  de- 
scriptive words,  such  as  "  face  view,"  "  transverse 
section,"  etc.  Different  drawings  of  the  same  object, 
unless  their  connection  is  perfectly  obvious,  should 
be  kept  in  correlation  with  one  another  by  proper 
cross-references.  Of  course  neatness  and  artistic 
effect  are  desirable  qualities  in  all  work,  and  some 
attention  may  be  given  to  placing  the  drawings  well 
on  the  page,  away  from  the  margin,  with  the  long 
axis  upright,  and  to  leaving  plenty  of  room  between 
different  ones  of  the  same  object,  and  between  differ- 
ent topics,  etc. 

In  all  of  these  respects,  i.e.  completeness  and  clear- 
ness of  outline,  economy  in  number,  scale,  labelling, 
neatness,  it  is  pedagogically  a  very  good  principle  to 
let  the  students  at  first  do  the  best  they  can  unaided. 
After  they  have  done  their  very  best,  they  are  in  a  posi- 
tion to  fully  understand  and  profit  by  the  teacher's  hints 
as  to  how  they  may  do  still  better.  Instruction  on 


SCIENTIFIC  DRAWING  AND   DESCRIPTION  73 

these  points  after  their  own  efforts  have  made  them 
feel  the  difficulties  has  many  times  more  meaning  than 
it  has  before  they  have  themselves  tried.  It  is  impor- 
tant, however,  not  to  confuse  them  by  too  many 
'suggestions  at  once.  It  is  much  better  to  point  out 
improvements  in  but  one  or  two  respects  at  a  time,  and 
thus  come  gradually  up  to  a  high  standard.  The 
earlier  drawings  will  on  this  plan  be  incomplete,  and 
they  may  subsequently  be  brought  up  to  the  higher 
grade,  or  left  as  a  record  of  progress,  not  without  its 
value.  From  the  first,  it  is  necessary  to  insist  that  the 
laboratory  work  shall  not  be  made  a  drawing  lesson. 
The  laboratory  hours  are  for  observation  and  com- 
parison, and  time  for  outline  drawings  only  can  be 
taken;  all  refinements  should  be  added  outside  of 
these  hours. 

Drawing  with  the  microscope,  after  the  use  of  the 
instrument  is  once  learned,  offers  few  difficulties,  since 
the  objects  are  seen  in  but  one  plane.  In  drawing 
tissues,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  shade  all  walls,  and  leave 
intercellular  spaces  and  cavities  blank,  even  in  cases 
where,  as  in  cross-sections  of  bast  fibres,  the  reverse 
would  make  a  better  picture  of  the  object.  Here,  also, 
diagrammatic  clearness  is  the  highest  quality  of  the 
drawing. 

After  the  first  principles  of  scientific  drawing  as  here 
outlined  have  been  grasped  by  the  student,  the  teacher 
may  well  give  from  time  to  time  some  instruction  upon 


74  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

the  simple  use  of  shading,  etc.  In  this  the  teacher,  as 
well  as  students,  will  gain  great  profit  by  a  study  of 
good  models,  where  shading  has  been  very  effectively 
used,  as  in  the  best  figures  in  their  text  and  reference 
books.  A  particularly  splendid  model  is  to  be  found  in 
the  illustrations  to  Sargent's  "  Silva  of  North  America," 
where  drawings  of  seeds,  twigs,  leaves,  etc.,  such  as  are 
taken  up  in  the  laboratory,  may  be  found.  Kny's  series 
of  wall  diagrams  also  offer  excellent  models.  It  is  a  good 
plan  also  to  have  students  copy  at  times  into  their  note- 
books good  diagrams  from  the  Kny  series,  or  from  good 
books,  especially  where  an  important  topic  is  being 
studied  with  poor  material.  A  drawing  copied  from 
a  good  source  is  a  better  record  of  an  important  topic 
than  no  drawing  at  all,  though  of  course  this  must  be 
resorted  to  but  rarely,  and  then  only  after  assurance  of 
a  perfect  understanding  of  the  diagram  by  the  student. 
Drawings  will  ordinarily  be  made  in  lead  pencil 
(Faber  HHHH  (4H)  I  have  found  best),  but  there  are 
many  advantages  in  finishing  them  in  India  ink.  The 
drawings  may  thus  be  saved  from  rubbing  through  hand- 
ling of  the  books,  are  more  permanent,  clearer,  and  of 
better  appearance  generally.  Liquid  India  ink  and  fine 
mapping  pens  should  be  used.  Shading  can  be  given 
either  by  fine  dots  made  more  numerous  for  a  deeper 
shading,  or  by  very  fine  lines  also  made  more  numerous 
for  a  deeper  shading,  or  even  given  by  pencil  with  an 
ink  outline.  With  my  own  students  the  use  of  the  ink 


SCIENTIFIC  DRAWING  AND   DESCRIPTION  75 

is  made  voluntary,  and  most  of  this  work  must  be  done 
outside  of  the  laboratory ;  but  almost  invariably  the  best 
students,  after  they  have  once  tried  it,  take  to  its  use 
altogether.  The  improvement  made  by  use  of  the  ink 
tends  greatly  to  foster  the  very  desirable  pride  of 
students  in  the  appearance  of  their  books  or  notes.  Of 
course  the  outlining  must  first  be  done  in  pencil,  the 
marks  being  erased  after  the  ink  has  been  added. 
Every  encouragement  should  be  given  to  individual 
artistic  tastes  in  drawing,  even  to  the  point  of  allowing 
some  use  of  color.  But  it  is  constantly  necessary  to  guard 
against  the  eclipse  of  the  naturalist  by  the  artist,  and 
the  beautiful  drawings  must  be  allowed  to  be  no  less 
accurate  than  those  which  are  merely  diagrammatic. 
Students  should  be  encouraged  to  work  in  physical 
comfort  and  with  a  feeling  of  leisure,  with  indepen- 
dence yet  readiness  to  profit  by  the  excellences  of  their 
neighbors.  It  is  well  to  allow  the  poorer  students 
frequently  to  see  the  drawings  and  notes  of  the  better 
ones. 

For  the  drawings  a  good  smooth  paper,  which  will 
take  both  pencil  and  ink,  is  necessary.  It  should  never 
have  a  perfectly  smooth  nor  glossy  surface,  nor  yet  be 
rough  like  that  used  for  sketches  by  artists.  The  kind 
called  ledger  paper  is  very  good.  There  are  different 
methods  of  keeping  the  drawings,  one  of  the  commonest 
being  to  make  them  on  separate  sheets  of  drawing  card- 
board of  uniform  size  (usually  6x4  inches)  which  are 


?  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

then  kept  in  a  simple  cover.  For  advanced  students 
this  does  very  well,  but  is  less  excellent  for  beginners. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  keep  notes  and  drawings  together 
in  this  way,  and  it  allows  of  easy  loss  and  constant 
disarrangement.  After  trial  of  many  systems  I  have 
concluded  that  a  book  is  best,  and  have  invented  a 
special  laboratory  book  which  I  have  used  for  three 
years  to  my  great  satisfaction.  It  is  made  of  the  best 
quality  of  ledger  paper  8^x6J  inches,  ruled  on  the 
right  hand  page  for  notes  and  unruled  on  the  left  hand 
for  drawings,  and  is  strongly  bound  in  linen.  It  is  made 
by  the  Cambridge  Botanical  Supply  Company,  and  a 
sample  is  sent  by  them  to  teachers.  Experience  shows 
that  a  thoroughly  good  book  of  this  kind  pays  in  many 
ways,  and  particularly  in  the  increased  care  students 
give  to  the  neatness  and  completeness  of  their  work. 
There  is  one  kind  of  drawing  of  which  the  value  grows 
upon  me  year  after  year,  namely,  the  generalized  mor- 
phological diagrams  worked  out  in  colors,  often  called 
for  in  the  Outlines  in  Part  II  of  this  book.  (See  partic- 
ularly Figs.  15,  28,  and  their  explanations.)  To  work 
them  out  correctly  necessitates  the  greatest  clearness 
of  ideas,  and  inculcates  comparison  and  generalization 
of  the  highest  value.  Indeed,  such  diagrams  demand 
thinking  of  mathematical  exactness  and  clearness.  The 
coloring  to  show  morphologically  identical  structures  can 
be  added  by  water-colors,  or  by  pencils  which  may  be 
bought  in  small  boxes  containing  six  colors. 


SCIENTIFIC  DRAWING  AND   DESCRIPTION  77 

Supplementary  to  the  drawings,  and  necessary  to  cor- 
relate these,  and  to  bring  out  features  which  they  do  not, 
are  the  notes  or  descriptions.  These  should  be  as  con- 
densed as  possible,  both  for  the  effect  upon  the  student's 
composition  and  also  for  the  convenience  of  the  teacher 
who  has  to  examine  them.  They  should  not  contain 
anything  that  can  be  clearly  shown  in  the  drawings. 
They  should  usually  be  complete  sentences,  and  perfect 
in  their  English,  terse  and  expressive.  Whenever  pos- 
sible they  should  be  thrown  into  tabular  form.  Draw- 
ings and  notes  should  of  course  be  mutually  intelligible 
and  consistent,  which  is  the  more  easy  if  abundant 
cross-references  are  used.  The  two  are  much  more 
effective  if  kept  opposite  one  another,  as  they  may  be 
in  such  a  book  as  has  been  recommended. 

Of  great  importance  for  review,  for  generalization,  and 
for  securing  correctness  of  proportion  are  synoptical 
essays,  which  should  be  called  for  under  each  topic  as 
soon  as  it  is  completed.  These  essays  should  be  strictly 
limited  in  length,  yet  required  to  include  all  phases  of 
the  subject  of  any  importance ;  thus  is  conciseness 
and  directness  cultivated.  It  would  probably  be  found 
advantageous  to  make  arrangements  whereby  these 
essays  could  also  count  as  work  in  English  composition. 
It  is  not  at  all  intended  that  the  essay  shall  simply 
repeat  what  is  already  carefully  recorded  in  the  labora- 
tory books ;  it  is  rather  a  comprehensive  but  synoptical 
outline  of  the  entire  subject  based  upon  all  sources 


78  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

of  information,  —  laboratory  work,  reading,  lectures.  It 
is  primarily  a  study  in  proportion  and  in  correlation. 
After  the  students  have  done  their  best  with  their  first 
essay,  it  is  well  for  the  teacher  to  read  them  a  selected 
one  or  even  one  composed  by  himself ;  and  to  illustrate 
this  point  there  is  given  in  Part  II,  Section  3,  one  that  I 
have  read  to  my  own  students  after  they  have  completed 
the  study  of  the  seed  as  called  for  in  the  first  three  Sec- 
tions of  the  Outlines.  Practically,  I  have  found  it  most 
advantageous  to  have  separate  books,  uniform  with  the 
laboratory  books,  for  the  essays;  the  latter  are;  of 
course,  corrected  and  returned  to  the  writers. 


V.     ON    LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR 
EQUIPMENT 

BOTANICAL  laboratories  are  of  many  sorts,  from  those 
built  especially  for  the  purpose  by  some  of  the  greater 
universities  down  to  unaltered  schoolrooms ;  but  all  have 
this  in  common,  that  the  room  and  its  furniture  are 
of  far  less  account  than  the  person  who  directs  them. 
In  other  words,  it  is  more  profitable  to  give  a  good 
teacher  to  a  poor  laboratory  than  a  good  laboratory  to 
a  poor  teacher.  Laboratories,  like  methods,  are  fine 
tools  for  skilled  workmen,  and  they  give  but  indifferent 
results  in  the  hands  of  those  untrained  in  their  use. 
Proper  laboratories  every  teacher  should  strive  for;  but 
he  is  not  to  suppose  that  good  work  must  be  put  off 
until  he  achieves  them. 

Many  universities,  some  colleges,  and  a  few  high 
schools  now  possess  good  botanical  laboratories,  and  if  a 
teacher  has  the  opportunity  to  direct  the  building  cf  a  new 
one,  he  should  visit  some  of  these  and  ask  advice  of  their 
directors.  He  may  obtain  their  addresses  by  writing  to 
the  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  principal  university  of  his 
State.  But  the  following  points  will  also  be  of  use :  — 

First,  of  course,  is  the  room,  in  which  a  prime  requi- 
site is  abundant  light.  This  implies  many  and  very  tall 

79 


8o 


THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 


windows,  which,  if  all  in  one  wall,  should  preferably  face 
the  north  in  order  to  avoid  exposure  to  direct  sunlight ; 
but  this  point  is  really  of  no  great  consequence,  since 
thick  white  shades  perfectly  temper  the  direct  sun,  and 


G.T. 


W 


SCALE  OF  FEET 


20  108*4210 

FIG.  i.  —  Plan  for  a  square  laboratory,  lighted  on  two  adjacent  sides.  C,  case 
for  museum  specimens ;  G.  T.,  gas  and  tool  table ;  L,  lockers  for  students' 
effects,  etc. ;  Af,  tables  for  materials,  etc. ;  P,  teacher's  platform,  with  black- 
board ;  S,  sink ;  Wt  Wardian  case. 

in  short  winter  days  it  is  an  advantage  to  have  the  win- 
dows face  in  the  lightest  direction.     The  walls  should  be 


LABORATORIES  AND  THEIR  EQUIPMENT 


8l 


tinted  white  or  nearly  so,  and  the  furniture  made  of  light- 
colored  wood.  Floors  should  be  solid  and  dust  kept  out 
as  far  as  possible.  Unless  the  windows  are  very  large 
it  is  best  to  use  but  one  row  of  tables,  of  which,  for 
elementary  work,  the  most  efficient  and  economical  dis- 
tribution known  to  me  is  that  shown  in  the  accompany- 
ing figures  (Figs,  i,  2).  Each  table  stands  opposite  a 


W 


G.T 


,,,,,,    jSCALE  Of  FEET 


0  12  3  iS  G      8    10,  15  20 

FIG.  2.  —  Plan  for  an  oblong  laboratory,  lighted  on  a  long  and  a  short  side. 
Lettering  as  in  Fig.  i. 

window,  and  is  used  by  five  students  (or  three  if  room 
allows),  two  on  a  side  and  one  at  the  end.  Rooms  are 
often  of  square  shape  and  lighted  from  two  adjacent 
sides,  in  which  case  the  arrangement  shown  in  Fig.  I  is 
good.  For  a  long  room  the  most  economical  arrangement 
is  that  shown  in  Fig.  2.  Where  more  than  one  row  of 
tables  must  be  used,  it  is  best  to  place  them  in  a  second 
row,  each  exactly  in  line  with  one  in  the  first  and  four 
feet  from  it.  The  tables  may  be  perfectly  plain,  of 


82  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

whitewood  or  pine,  each  on  four  solid  legs,  oiled  but  not 
varnished  on  top,  thirty  inches  high  (lower  for  schools), 
and  eight  feet  long  by  three  feet  wide.1  It  is  well  to 
have  black  lines  ruled  to  mark  off  the  territory  for  which 
each  of  the  five  students  is  to  be  held  responsible. 
Plain  chairs  with  rubber  caps  on  the  feet  are  good, 
though  revolving  chairs  have  advantages.  At  least  four 
feet  should  be  left  between  each  table  to  allow  each 
student  abundant  room,  and  to  permit  the  teacher  to 
pass  easily  among  them.  Shallow  drawers  may  be  made 
in  the  tables,  but  if  many  divisions  of  students  use  the 
same  tables,  these  will  be  insufficient  and  may  as  well  be 
omitted  in  favor  of  lockers  and  drawers  built  elsewhere 
in  the  room  in  sufficient  number  to  allow  one  to  each 
student.  For  elementary  students  a  drawer  eighteen  by 
twelve  inches  is  ample,  but  each  student  should  have  one 
to  himself  for  his  tools,  note-books,  etc.  Stone  jars 
under  each  table  for  waste  materials  are  desirable. 

Of  other  furniture,  I  would  place  next  a  Wardian 
case,  or  miniature  greenhouse,  in  which  plants  may  be 
kept  alive  while  under  observation  or  experiment.  In 
fact,  not  much  physiological  work  is  possible  without 
something  of  this  kind,  for  the  dryness,  gases,  and 
other  disturbances  of  an  open  schoolroom  produce 
abnormal  results,  and  often  no  results  at  all.  The 


1  Detailed  descriptions  and  figures  of  various  forms  of  laboratory  tables 
may  be  found  in  the  Journal  of  Applied  Microscopy  (Rochester,  N.Y.), 
for  April,  1899. 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT  83 

ideal  place  for  this  work  is  a  small  greenhouse  open- 
ing off  the  laboratory ;  and  often  some  angle  or  gable 
of  the  building  offers  a  place  for  it.  In  such  a  house 
not  only  could  experiments  and  observations  extending 
over  a  considerable  time  be  carried  on,  but  a  small 
collection  of  typical  plants  to  illustrate  ecological  prin- 
ciples could  be  kept  to  obvious  advantage.  In  place 
of  this,  where  very  large,  especially  bow,  windows  are 
available,  a  glass  partition  could  be  used  to  make  a 
small  greenhouse  in  the  laboratory;  but  the  heating 
might  offer  difficulty.1  But  a  simple  Wardian  case  is 
always  a  possibility  either  in  laboratory  or  schoolroom.. 
Its  chief  qualities  are  abundant  light,  hence  as  much 
glass  and  as  little  frame  as  possible,  sufficient  tightness 
of  construction  to  hold  moisture  and  exclude  most  of 
the  gases  and  dust  of  the  room,  and  some  provision 
for  heating  in  case  the  temperature  of  the  room  falls 
below  about  10°  C.  at  night,  or  when  high  temperatures 
are  needed  for  special  experiments.  Such  a  case,2  built 
entirely  of  glass  and  metal,  in  use  in  my  own  labora- 
tory, is  shown  in  outline  in  Fig.  3.  The  floor  is  a 
copper  box  four  inches  deep  filled  with  water  and  heated 
from  below  by  a  Koch  safety  gas  burner,  whose  flame 
is  shielded  from  draughts  by  a  sheet-iron  hood.  The 

1  Valuable  hints  upon  the  management  of  such  window  gardens,  and 
suggestions  as  to  the  best  plants  for  them,  are  given  by  J.  W.  Harshberger 
in  Education,  XVIII,  1898. 

2  Made  for  me  by  Williams,  Brown,  and  Earle,  of  Philadelphia. 


84 


THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 


height  of  the  flame  is  controlled  by  a  Reichert  thermo- 
regulator  inside  the  case,  which  can  be  set  at  any  de- 

sired point,  and  which 
keeps  the  temperature 
within  3°  C.  of  that 
point,  no  matter  how 
low  it  falls  in  the  room 
outside.  This  case  is, 
however,  more  elab- 
orate than  necessary, 
and,  after  my  expe- 
rience with  it,  I  believe 
one  would  work  well 
if  built  in  the  follow- 
ing manner.  Have 
made  a  covered,  gal- 
vanized-iron  box  the 
length  of  the  window, 
two  feet  wide  and 
three  inches  deep,  with 
a  hole  in  one  corner 
for  filling,  and  a  tight 
sheet  -  iron  hood  be- 


FIG. 3.  —  A  successful  Wardian  case.    Scale, 


neath    to    shield     the 
flame  and  keep  gases 

i  inch  =  i  foot  from     rising     through 

the  joints  of  the  case  ;  have  sashes  made  with  as  little 
wood  as  possible  to  surround  and  cover  it,  as  shown 


LABORATORIES  AND  THEIR  EQUIPMENT 


in  the  cross-section  in 
Fig.  4 ;  on  one  of  the 
long   sides  two    doors 
must    be    left,    which 
can  be  tightly  closed ; 
the  top  may  be  hinged 
to   allow   opening    for 
ventilation    at    times ; 
support  the  whole  on 
a   firm   table;   shelves 
of   glass    or  wire  net- 
ting   may    be    added ; 
use  preferably  a  Koch 
safety    burner   (which 
,shuts  off  the  gas  if  the 
flame    goes    out)   and 
a      Reichert      regula- 
tor.     The  entire   cost 
should  not  exceed  $25 
to     $30.       It     should 
not      be     built     into 
the     window,     at     all 
events  not  without  an 
extra    sash    some    in- 
ches   from    the    win- 
dow   sash. 


v.      ^~.  , 

FiG.  4.  —  Plan  for  a  Wardian  case,  in  cross- 

Other    necessary    Or         section.    H,  sheet-iron  hood;  A,  hinge  of 

n 


top ',     W.&.,  waier  uox  uj 

desirable    furniture    is      dotted  lines  show  legs  of 


.        ,  -  , 

top;    W.B.,  water  box  of  galvanized  iron; 
table. 


86  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

the  following.  There  should  be  one  or  two  large  tables 
for  holding  the  supply  of  material  for  the  class  and 
for  demonstration,  etc.  These  may  be  built  three  feet 
high,  with  lockers  for  microscopes,  or  other  storage, 
beneath.  A  teacher's  platform  with  a  blackboard  is 
essential,  and  over  it,  as  well  as  elsewhere  in  the  room, 
should  be  racks  for  displaying  diagrams.  The  best  racks 
I  know  of  are  boards  an  inch  thick,  four  inches  wide, 

A  and  ten  feet  long, 
rounded  on  one 
edge  to  hold  Den- 
nison's  No.  12  Card 
Holders  (which  are 
far  the  best  dia- 
gram holders  I 
have  ever  seen) ; 
If"  these  boards  run 

FIG.  5. — A  successful  rack  for  displaying    jn    a     light    guidinpT 
diagrams.     A,  B,  pulleys ;  C,  cleat  for 

fastening  cords ;  D,  cross-section  of  the     frame,    like    a    win- 
guiding-case,  enlarged. 


raised  and  lowered  by  cords  attached  as  shown  in  Fig. 
5,  which  also  shows  a  cross-section  of  the  guiding- 
case.  The  latter,  however,  is  not  indispensable.  Two 
boards  may  be  used  in  the  same  case,  passing  one 
another  and  giving  two  tiers  of  diagrams  if  the  ceil- 
ing is  high  enough  either  above  the  blackboard,  or 
elsewhere.  A  gas  table  for  heating,  glass-bending,  etc., 
is  necessary,  as  is  a  large  sink  (preferably  porcelain- 


LABORATORIES  AND  THEIR  EQUIPMENT  87 

lined)  with  several  taps,  and  cases  with  glass  fronts  for 
storing  museum  specimens,  materials,  etc.  Lockers 
or  drawer  cases,  when  built  away  from  the  wall  (as 
in  Fig.  i),  should  not  be  over  four  feet  high,  in  order 
not  to  obstruct  a  free  view  around  the  room.1 

Of  instruments  the  first  in  importance  are  the  scal- 
pel, two  needles  in  handles,  forceps,  and  hand  lens, 
which  should  be  supplied  as  a  loan  to  each  student, 
together  with  a  box  to  keep  them  in.  These  may 


FIG.  6.  —  A  successful  set  of  dissecting  instruments,  with  case. 

be  bought  in  various  forms  and  qualities  at  prices 
from  75  cents  upward  per  set  from  any  of  the  firms 
mentioned  later.  For  use  with  my  own  classes  I 
have  designed  the  set,  together  with  their  leatherette 
case,  figured  herewith  (Fig.  6),  which  is  manufactured 
for  me  at  $1.20  each  by  Williams,  Brown,  and  Earle, 
of  Philadelphia,  and  which  has  proved  very  satisfactory. 
It  includes  all  instruments  essential  in  elementary  work. 

1  There  are  valuable  hints  upon  these  points,  and  upon  other  matters 
connected  with  laboratories,  in  a  fully  illustrated  article  on  "Repre- 
sentative American  Laboratories,"  in  the  Journal  of  Applied  Microscopy 
(Rochester,  N.Y.),  Vol.  I,  1898,  pp.  22-32. 


88  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

The  lens  fits  in  at  one  end  and  the  needles,  etc.,  at  the 
other ;  and  the  case  is  intended  either  for  keeping  the 
tools  at  the  laboratory  or  for  carrying  them  in  the  field. 
A  fair  dissecting  microscope  may  be  made  by  placing 
the  lens  open  on  the  case,  with  the  lenses,  held  in 
position  by  one  of  the  flaps,  projecting  over  the  side. 
Next  in  importance  are  dissecting  microscopes,  which 
are  of  the  greatest  value.  There  should  be  at  least 
one  to  a  seat,  preferably  one  to  a  student.  '  There  is 
a  large  variety  of  these  by  different  makers,  and  of 
great  range  of  excellence  and  cost.  For  a  cheaper 
kind,  the  Barnes  Dissecting  Microscope  offered  by 
Bausch  and  Lomb  to  schools  and  colleges  at  $1.88  to 
$2.82  is  excellent,  and,  in  my  opinion,  ample  for  ele- 
mentary courses. 

The  compound  microscope  is  the  chief  tool  of  the 
biologist  and  indispensable  to  the  biological  laboratory. 
The  ideal  arrangement  provides  one  for  each  student ; 
after  that,  one  to  each  seat  where  more  than  one 
division  uses  a  room ;  after  that,  one  to  as  few  stu- 
dents as  possible.  If  there  is  one  to  each  student,  it 
is  easy  to  hold  him  responsible  for  its  condition ;  and 
its  life  is  so  much  longer  that  it  pays  in  the  end  to 
provide  the  greater  number  at  the  start.  There  are 
all  grades  of  compound  microscopes  and  all  prices. 
The  makers  best  known  in  this  country  are  Zeiss,  of 
Jena  (Germany),  Leitz,  of  Wetzlar  (Germany),  Reichert, 
of  Vienna  (Austria),  and  Bausch  and  Lomb,  of  Roches- 


LABORATORIES  AND  THEIR   EQUIPMENT  89 

ter  (New  York).  After  much  experiment  with  many 
makes,  I  have,  for  the  use  of  my  own  classes,  fixed 
upon  the  instrument  shown  in  the  accompanying  cut 
(Fig.  7),  which  has  been  specially  made  by  Reichert, 
and  is  supplied,  duty  free,  at  $27,  by  Richards  and 


FIG.  7.  —  A  successful  student's  microscope. 

Company,  of  New  York.  Its  points  of  excellence 
are,  —  the  very  firm  base,  the  presence  of  a  nose- 
piece  (a  most  valuable  time-saver),  and  a  case  in  which 
it  can  be  kept  without  closing  the  tubes.  It  has 
objectives  3  and  7  and  oculars  U  and  IV.  It  is 


9O  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

nearer  the  ideal  student's  microscope  than  any  other 
that  I  know  of.  If  a  less  expensive  one  is  necessary, 
the  nose-piece  can  be  omitted,  and  there  are  other 
stands  and  combinations  by  the  same  maker.  Instru- 
ments of  corresponding  power  are  supplied  by  other 
makers.  Those  of  Zeiss  are  usually  considered  the 
best  of  all,  but  they  are  also  most  expensive.  Those 
of  Leitz  are  thought  by  many  to  offer  a  good  resultant 
between  cost  and  quality.  All  foreign  makes  of  micro- 
scopes and  other  instruments  may  be  imported  by  col- 
leges and  schools  free  of  duty,  and  to  meet  this  the 
chief  American  firm,  Bausch  and  Lomb,  offer  special 
discounts  from  their  list  prices  to  those  institutions. 
It  does  not  pay  to  buy  a  cheap  microscope,  and 
nothing  less  than  a  firm  stand  of  the  continental  pat- 
tern, with  two  objectives,  two-thirds  and  one-sixth 
inch  focus,  and  two  eye-pieces,  should  be  accepted, 
and  a  nose-piece  is  well  worth  its  cost.  For  such 
an  instrument  $20  or  more  must  be  paid.  It  is 
better  to  have  a  few  of  this  grade  than  more  of  a 
poorer  sort,  and  in  buying  from  any  other  than  the 
firms  of  recognized  worth,  it  is  better  to  seek  the 
advice  of  some  specialist.  In  the  laboratory  the  mi- 
croscopes should  be  kept  in  lockers,  especially  if  there 
is  one  to  each  student,  or  they  may  be  kept  on  the 
laboratory  tables  under  glass  bell-jars,  or  even  in 
their  cases  when  there  is  but  one  to  a  seat.  Like 
other  laboratory  apparatus,  they  should  be  loaned  for 


LABORATORIES  AND  THEIR   EQUIPMENT 


the   term  to  the   students,  who  should   be   held   fully 
responsible  for  their  good  condition. 

In  an  elementary  course  few  reagents  are  used, 
and  these  so  rarely  that  it  is  better  to  place  them  on 
the  tables  only  when  needed.  The  best  reagent 
bottles  known  to  me  are  those  in  which  a  pipette 
forms  the  ground  glass  stopper, 
as  shown  in  the  accompanying 
figure  (Fig.  8).  These  bottles 
and  other  dishes  and  miscella- 
neous glassware  are  happily  in- 
expensive, and  may  be  obtained 
from  any  of  the  firms  dealing 
in  chemical  supplies. 

Apparatus  for  physiological 
experiments  must  partly  be 
made  to  order  from  directions 
given  in  books,  and  partly 
bought ;  and  most  of  the  needed 
supplies  may  be  purchased  from 
the  firms  mentioned  below. 
Most  of  the  articles  are  not 
used  up,  but  once  obtained  are 
valuable  year  after  year.  There  is  no  firm  known  to 
me  which  makes  a  specialty  of  apparatus  for  plant 
physiology,  though  no  doubt,  in  view  of  the  rapidly 
increasing  attention  given  to  this  subject,  that  lack 
will  soon  be  supplied ;  and  it  will  not  be  long  before 


FIG.  8.  —  An  excellent  form 
of  reagent  bottle. 


92  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

the  apparatus  necessary  for  a  standard  set  of  physio- 
logical experiments  for  an  elementary  course  in  Botany 
will  be  offered  for  sale  at  a  fair  cost,  precisely  as  such 
apparatus  is  now  offered  for  the  Harvard  Entrance 
Requirement  in  Physics. 

Abundant  materials  in  proper  condition  are  a  ne- 
cessity for  good  study,  and  fortunately  these  are  not 
expensive.  They  are  partly  to  be  bought  in  the 
markets  or  from  greenhouses,  partly  collected  the 
summer  before,  while,  as  a  last  resort,  some  of 
the  more  special  materials  may  be  bought  from  a 
botanical  supply  company.  If  the  teacher  has  at 
command  his  own  greenhouse  and  gardener,  as  many 
colleges  have,  he  is  fortunate.  If  he  is  near  a  bo- 
tanic garden,  he  will  find  the  director  ready  to  aid 
him  in  anything  which  advances  botanical  knowledge. 
Commercial  greenhouses,  happily,  are  everywhere, 
and  the  teacher  should  make  friends,  and  a  bargain 
in  advance,  with  the  gardener  for  such  materials  as 
he  needs, — bulbs,  flowers,  leaves,  plants  for  experi- 
ment, and  also  for  keeping  certain  illustrative  water 
plants,  etc.  All  this,  together  with  many  other 
incidental  expenses  about  a  laboratory,  necessitates 
some  regular  income.  In  colleges  this  is  generally 
supplied  by  the  laboratory  fee  paid  by  the  students, 
amounting  on  an  average  annually  to  about  $5  for 
each  student,  which  is  ample.  Since  the  public 
school  system  does  not  allow  of  such  a  source  of 


LABORATORIES  AND  THEIR   EQUIPMENT  93 

revenue,  its  place  must  be  taken  by  annual  grants 
from  the  school  committees,  and  the  teacher  should 
insist  upon  that  sum  or  as  near  it  as  possible.  The 
materials  to  be  collected  in  summer  (unless  for  the 
herbarium)  are  best  preserved  in  glass  preserve  jars  in 
water  to  which  two  per  cent  of  formaline  (also  called 
formaldehyd  and  formalose)  has  been  added;  this 
will  perfectly  preserve  all  vegetable  tissues,  but  since 
its  fumes  irritate  the  eyes  and  throat,  the  materials 
should  be  well  washed  in  water  just  before  they  are 
used.  It  is  well  in  the  spring  to  go  through  the  out- 
lines for  the  next  year's  work  and  list  the  mate- 
rials needed,  as  a  guide  for  the  summer  collecting. 
Pressed  flowers  are  sometimes  recommended  for 
study,  but  they  are  difficult  for  and  repellent  to  the 
beginner,  who  should  have  fresh  ones  only. 

The  charts,  museum  specimens,  and  other  desirable 
illustrative  parts  of  a  laboratory  equipment  are  dis- 
cussed in  the  next  chapter  (Chapter  VI). 

The  only  firm  in  the  United  States  which  professes 
to  deal  exclusively  in  botanical  supplies,  and  as  well 
to  supply  everything  needed  by  botanists,  is  the  Cam- 
bridge Botanical  Supply  Company,  of  Cambridge, 
Mass.  A  new  firm,  the  Ithaca  Botanical  Supply 
Company,  Ithaca,  N.Y.,  has  lately  been  organized. 
The  Knott  Scientific  Apparatus  Company,  of  Boston, 
Williams,  Brown,  and  Earle,  of  Philadelphia,  Richard 
Kny  and  Company,  of  New  York,  all  deal  in  smaller 


94  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

botanical  supplies,  and  the  names  of  other  firms  else- 
where may  be  found  in  the  advertising  pages  of  the 
Botanical  Gazette.  For  larger  glassware  of  all  sorts, 
Eimer  and  Amend,  of  New  York,  and  Richards  and 
Company,  of  New  York,  are  the  firms  I  know  best, 
but  all  large  dealers  in  chemical  supplies  keep  such 
apparatus.  If  a  large  quantity  is  wanted,  it  pays 
to  import  it  duty  free  through  some  of  these  firms, 
in  which  case  orders  must  be  placed  two  or  three 
months  in  advance,  but  this  is  not  worth  while  for 
very  small  orders. 


VI.     ON   BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS   AND 
OTHER   ILLUSTRATIONS 

THE  only  true  foundation  for  biological  knowledge  is 
Laboratory  or  other  practical  study.  This  method,  how- 
ever, has  an  inherent  defect  in  that,  consisting  as  it 
must  in  the  investigation  of  more  or  less  isolated  topics 
or  types,  the  view  it  gives  of  the  plant  world  is  discon- 
tinuous and  poor  in  perspective.  To  realize  the  full 
value  of  the  study,  these  types  need  to  be  correlated 
and  located  in  the  general  system,  thus  contributing  to 
the  formation  of  one  complete  and  correct  conception. 
To  this  end,  reading,  lectures,  and  other  formal  instruc- 
tion are  of  great  aid,  and  these  I  have  treated  elsewhere 
in  this  work ;  but  equally  valuable  is  that  comprehen- 
sive survey  of  a  large  series  of  forms  which  is  made 
possible  only  by  collections  of  living  plants,  of  museum 
specimens,  of  photographs  or  charts,  of  models,  etc. 
The  study  of  these  collections  alone  would  have  little 
meaning,  but  every  type  thoroughly  studied  in  the 
laboratory  becomes  a  centre  of  illumination  for  a  zone 
of  related  topics,  which  have  a  vivid  significance  and 
interest  entirely  lacking  without  such  study. 

By  far  the  most  valuable  of  all  botanical  illustrations 

95 


96  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

are  living  plants  growing  untouched  in  their  native 
homes.  But  practically  the  use  of  these  is  very  limited, 
for  some  of  the  most  instructive  are  tropical  or  of  other 
lands,  and  the  native  ones  are  not  only  often  distant, 
especially  from  students  in  cities,  but  in  our  climate  are 
unavailable  for  most  of  the  school  year.  These  draw- 
backs are  partially  overcome  by  botanic  gardens,  which 
not  only  bring  plants  together  from  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth,  but  group  them  in  a  manner  which  is  itself 
instructive.  Plants  in  gardens,  however,  while  valuable 
for  investigations  upon  structure  and  classification,  are- 
nearly  valueless  for  studies  upon  their  natural  relations 
to  their  surroundings,  though  they  may  be  so  grouped 
as  to  form  valuable  illustrations  of  some  well-known 
principles  of  ecology.  The  teacher  who  is  so  fortunate 
as  to  be  within  reach  of  a  botanic  garden  should  make 
the  acquaintance  of  the  director  and  obtain  permission 
for  himself  and  his  students  to  use  it  freely,  which  will] 
usually  be  readily  granted.  Botanic  gardens  are  very 
numerous  in  Europe,  but  rarer  in  this  country ;  the 
principal  ones  of  North  America  are  the  following, 
arranged  in  order  from  east  to  west :  — 

The  Arnold  Arboretum  (a  department  of  Harvard 
University),  at  Jamaica  Plain,  Mass. 

The  Botanic  Garden  of  Harvard  University,  at  Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 

The  Botanic  Garden  of  Smith  College,  at  North- 
ampton, Mass. 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  97 

The  Botanic  Garden  of  McGill  University,  at  Mont- 
•eal,  Canada. 

The  New  York  Botanical  Garden,  at  New  York  City. 

The  Botanic  Garden  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, at  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Botanic  Gardens  of  the  United  States  Depart- 
nent  of  Agriculture,  at  Washington,  D.C. 

The  Buffalo  Botanical  Garden,  at  Buffalo,  N.Y. 

The  Botanic  Garden  of  the  Michigan  Agricultural 
College,  near  Lansing,  Mich. 

The  Missouri  Botanical  Garden,  at  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  Botanic  Garden  of  the  University  of  California, 
3erkeley,  Cal. 

There  are  others  also,  but  of  less  complete  organization, 
in  connection  with  some  other  colleges,  especially  some 
of  the  State  and  agricultural  colleges.  By  far  the  most 
important  of  the  above  list  are  the  Arnold  Arboretum, 
the  Missouri  and  the  New  York  gardens  (the  latter  now 
:orming),  next  to  which  comes  that  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity. The  Smith  College  Garden  was  especially  planned 
[rom  the  start  as  a  teaching  garden,  and  as  such  is  fairly 
complete.1  School  gardens  have  scarcely  at  all  received 
attention  in  this  country,  but  a  noteworthy  article  by 

1  A  full  account  of  it,  with  a  plan,  is  contained  in  Garden  and  Forest, 
Vol.  X,  p.  512,  1897.  The  New  York  Garden  is  described  in  the  three 
Bulletins  of  the  garden  by  Dr.  N.  L.  Britton,  an  important  address  by 
whom,  on  "  Botanic  Gardens,"  is  in  Garden  and  Forest,  Vol.  IX,  p.  352. 
The  Michigan  Agricultural  College  Garden  is  described  by  W.  J.  Beal  in 
Garden  and  Forest,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  303,  322. 
H 


98  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

H.  L.  Clapp,  on  "School  Gardens"  in  the  Popular  Science 
Monthly  for  February,  1898,  gives  a  description  of  a 
remarkably  successful  garden  on  the  grounds  of  a 
Boston  school,  and  shows  how  much  may  be  done  with 
limited  space  and  means.  Such  gardens  must  repay 
many  fold  their  cost,  not  only  in  botanical  instruction, 
but  in  moral  influence,  and  their  formation  cannot  be  too 
highly  commended.  There  are  very  practical  directions 
upon  this  subject  in  L.  H.  Bailey's  "  Lessons  with 
Plants,"  and  especially  in  his  "  Garden  Making,"  show- 
ing how  much  can  be  done  at  little  or  no  expense,  and 
a  recent  book  in  German,  illustrated  with  plans,1  is 
devoted  entirely  to  this  subject. 

An  essential  feature,  indeed  the  most  essential  fea- 
ture, of  all  botanic  gardens  are  their  ranges- of  green- 
houses, for  thus  are  the  living  plants  made  independent 
of  climate  and  country.  Such  collections  illustrate 
extremely  well  most  structural  features,  and  fairly  well 
many  ecological  principles,  especially  where  the  natural 
conditions  are  carefully  imitated,  as  is  to  some  extent 
possible  with  water  plants,  desert  plants,  epiphytes,  etc. 
If  the  teacher  has  not  the  use  of  such  a  collection,  and 
has  no  school  greenhouse,  he  can  perhaps  make  the 
acquaintance  of  some  owner  of  a  private  or  even  a 
commercial  greenhouse  and  persuade  the  owner  to 
accumulate  some  of  the  more  important  forms.  What 

1  Cronberger,  B.  "  Der  Schulgarten  des  In-  und  Auslandes."  Frank- 
furt a.  M.  1898.  2.80  marks. 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  99 

these  forms  are,  he  will  know  from   his  own   earlier 
studies. 

Next  in  value  to  living  plants  come  dead  ones  pre- 
served to  look  as  much  like  life  as  possible.  The 
collection  and  arrangement  of  such  specimens  is  the 
function  of  museums.  Unhappily,  there  is  no  known 
method  of  preserving  plants  in  their  natural  forms  and 
colors  as  is  possible  with  so  many  animals ;  though  on 
the  other  hand  it  is  possible  to  preserve  plants,  when 
driedP  with  cheapness,  compactness,  and  accessibility  far 
exceeding  what  is  possible  with  animals.  Hence  it 
comes  about  that  there  are  many  great  herbaria  and  but 
few  great  botanical  museums.  Even  in  Europe  botani- 
cal museums  are  very  scarce  and  of  minor  interest,  and 
in  America  there  is  as  yet  but  a  single  botanical  museum 
of  any  account,  that  of  Harvard  University,  and  this 
one  owes  its  interest  chiefly  to  the  success  with  which 
the  living  plants,  including  flowers,  have  been  imitated 
by  glass  models  of  the  most  natural  form,  size,  and 
color.1  In  time  the  New  York  Botanical  Garden  will 
undoubtedly  possess  a  museum  of  the  greatest  com- 
prehensiveness and  value.  Most  colleges  with  depart- 

1  This  collection  of  models  is  being  made  by  Leopold  and  Rudolph 
Blaschka,  of  Dresden,  Germany.  It  has  attracted  wide  attention  for  its 
great  accuracy  of  execution.  A  full  account  of  it  is  given  by  Walter  Deane, 
in  the  Botanical  Gazette,  XIX,  p.  144.  One  of  the  curators  of  the  British 
Museum  has  said  of  it,  "  No  other  museum  possesses  anything  half  so 
beautiful."  It  is  unique,  and  by  contract  with  the  makers  no  part  is  to  be 
duplicated. 


IOO  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

ments  of  Botany  possess  small  teaching  collections,  and 
these  are  of  such  value  that  every  teacher  of  an 
elementary  course  should  aim  to  gather  at  least  a 
small  museum. 

Many  parts  of  plants,  such  as  hard  fruits,  woody 
stems,  etc.,  may  best  be  preserved  dry,  as  indeed  may 
the  entire  plants  themselves,  in  herbaria,  of  which  I 
shall  speak  presently.  But  the  softer  parts  can  be 
kept  only  in  some  preservative  liquid,  though  none  is 
known  which  will  keep  color  well.  A  solution  of  three 
per  cent  formaline  in  water  will  preserve  color  as  well 
as  any,  but  it  keeps  some  colors  much  better  than 
others ;  and  in  it  the  important  green  tissues  become 
of  a  translucent  unnatural  shade,  which  is  hardly  worth 
the  having.1  In  my  own  collections  I  use  a  mixture  of 
two  per  cent  formaline  in  thirty  per  cent  alcohol,  which 
preserves  the  softest  tissues  perfectly  in  every  respect 
except  color.  Formaline  is  used  in  such  small  quanti- 
ties that  it  is  really  very  cheap ;  and  colleges  and 
schools  are  entitled  by  law  to  purchase,  though  with 
rather  complicated  legal  formalities,  alcohol  free  of 
internal  revenue  tax,  which  makes  it  cost  only  about 
40  cents  per  gallon  in  quantity.  Bottles  for  speci- 
mens may  be  any  one  of  the  many  forms  of  preserve 
jars ;  but  after  considerable  experience  with  their  effect 

1  If  one  wishes  to  try  to  preserve  the  green  color  by  other  methods, 
he  may  consult  to  advantage  an  article  by  A.  F.  Woods,  in  the  Botanical 
Gazette,  XXIV,  p.  206. 


BOTANICAL  COLLECTIONS  IOI 

upon  classes,  I  am  convinced  that  it  is  true  economy  to 
buy  only  the  best  white  flint  glass  bottles  with  ground 
glass  stoppers,  not  only  for  specimens  in  liquids,  but 
also  for  dry  objects,  such  as  seeds,  which  need  some 
kind  of  a  vessel.  Thus  not  only  are,  all  specimens  safe 
from  evaporation  and  dust,  but  the  'respect  of 'the  ^'stu- 
dent is  far  greater  for  a  compact^arrislical-y  presented 
specimen  than  for  one  in  a  green  leaky  jar  or  a  dusty 
box,  and  hence  its  value  to  him  is  greater.  The 
teacher,  too,  is  more  likely  to  accumulate  only  things 
of  value  if  the  receptacles  must  be  economized.  For 
a  collection  of  my  own  I  prefer  a  dozen  such  specimens 
to  thrice  that  number  indifferently  prepared.  I  have 
experimented  with  several  forms  of  bottles,  and  finally 
have  fixed  upon  Whitall  and  Tatum's  (Boston  and  New 
York)  No.  2605  specimen  jars,  which  may  be  had  in 
all  sizes,  and  for  which  their  published  prices  are  sub- 
ject to  large  discounts.  I  prefer  the  appearance  of 
these  to  that  of  the  kinds  without  a  neck.  But  of 
course  if  one  cannot  afford  such  bottles,  some  of  the 
many  forms  of  preserve  jars  will  do  very  well,  and  are 
far  better  than  nothing  at  all.  In  whatever  manner 
prepared,  however,  every  specimen  should  be  in  condi- 
tion to  be  handled  and  passed  about.  Tight,  upright, 
glass-fronted  wall  cases  should  be  provided  for  them, 
and  it  is  well  to  have  them  very  fully  labelled  and  care- 
fully arranged  upon  a  definite  plan  in  order  that  they 
may  be  as  instructive  as  possible  when  not  actually  in 


102  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

class  use.  In  any  museum  collection  whatever,  the 
great  guiding  principle  should  be  selection,  not  accumu- 
lation; and  in  plan  and "  labelling  the  famous  dictum 
of  Goode1  should  be  remembered,  that  the  modern 
museum  .is,  a n  collection  of  labels  illustrated  by  speci- 
mens. The  teaching  collection  need  have  no  formal 
ibbginrikig 'j  \  frut*  ,3$ specimens  from  one  source  and 
another  are  obtained,  they  should  be  properly  pre- 
pared and  added.  There  are  as  yet  no  firms  offering 
for  sale  considerable  numbers  of  museum  specimens 
of  plants  such  as  are  offered  of  animals. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  however,  that  the 
collection  should  grow  upon  some  definite  plan,  as 
otherwise  half  of  its  value  is  lost.  One  may,  accord- 
ing to  his  tastes  or  facilities,  take  as  the  leading 
idea  the  illustration  of  the  principles,  either  of  mor- 
phology, ecology,  or  the  natural  groups.  An  ideally 
complete  collection  would  include  all  three.  Follow- 
ing is  a  suggestion  for  a  plan  based  upon  that 
which  I  have  worked  out  for  the  collections  under  my 
charge : — 

1  There,  are  valuable  papers  on  Museum-making,  by  G.  Brown  Goode 
in  Science,  New  Series,  Vol.  II,  p.  197,  and  Vol.  Ill,  p.  154.  Particularly 
apposite  and  most  valuable,  though  I  cannot  agree  with  all  of  its  recom- 
mendations, is  J.  M.  Macfarlane's  "  The  Organization  of  Botanical  Museums 
for  Schools,  Colleges,  and  Universities,"  in  Woods  Holl  Biological  Lectures 
for  1894.  Of  much  suggestiveness  is  Boyd  Dawkins'  address  on  the 
Place  of  Museums,  in  Nature,  July,  1892,  p.  280.  See  also  Nature^ 
1895,  P-  I07- 


BOTANICAL  COLLECTIONS  IO3 

Division  I. 

Morphology.  A.  Phylogeny  of  the  Plant  Kingdom ;  progress 
from  thallus  to  shoot  and  root;  and 
from  sporangia  to  ovules  and  anthers. 

B.  Particular    anatomy    and   morphology    of 

Thallophytes,    Bryophytes,    and    Pteri- 
dophytes. 

C.  Particular   anatomy   and    morphology   of 

Spermatophytes. 

1.  The  root,  typical  form  and  plasticity. 

2.  The  shoot. 

a.  Stem,  typical   form   and   plas- 

ticity. 

b.  Leaf,  typical  form  and  plasticity. 

c.  Flower,  typical  form  and  plas- 

ticity. 

d.  Fruit,   typical   form   and  plas- 

ticity. 
Division  II. 

Ecology.  Adaptations  connected  with  particular  or  typical 
modes  of,  — 

A.  Nutrition. 

a.  Absorption. 

b.  Transfer,  including  transpiration. 

c.  Metabolism,  including   photosynthe- 

sis. 

d.  Storage. 

e.  •  Secretion  and  excretion. 

B.  Growth. 

C.  Reproduction. 

D.  Irritability,  i.e.  individual  response  to  ex- 

ternal stimuli. 


104  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

E.  Locomotion. 

a.  Of  pollen. 

b.  Of  seeds  and  some  vegetative  parts. 

F.  Protection. 

a.  Against  weather  conditions. 

b.  Against  living  enemies. 
Division  III. 

The  Natural  Groups  of  Plants.     (Natural  History  of  Plants.) 

A.  The  Algae. 

B.  The  Fungi. 

C.  The  Lichens. 

D.  The  Bryophytes. 

E.  The  Pteridophytes. 

F.  The  Spermatophytes. 

I.   Floristic  Divisions. 
II.   Ecological  Divisions. 
Mesophytes. 
Hydrophytes. 
Xerophytes. 
Halophyles. 
Climbers. 
Epiphytes. 
Parasites. 
Insectivora. 
Myrmecophila. 
Etc. 

Of  course  this  plan  is  too  comprehensive  to  be  carried 
out  in  its  entirety  in  a  teaching  collection,  and  it  is 
offered  but  as  a  suggestion.  In  a  large  public  museum, 
other  sections,  to  illustrate  palaeontology  and  economics, 
would  be  added,  together  with  the  fullest  representation 


BOTANICAL  COLLECTIONS  IO5 

of  all  phases  of  the  subject  by  models,  paintings,  photo- 
graphs, apparatus  used  in  investigation,  etc.  Even  in 
the  smallest  collection  there  should  be  the  fullest  label- 
ling, which  should  give  the  exact  place  of  the  specimen 
in  the  plan.  As  an  example,  I  give  here  a  typical  label 
as  adopted  for  my  own  collection  (Fig.  9).  These  labels 
need  not  be  permanently  attached  to  the  bottles,  but  are 
to  be  placed  with  them  when  not  in  use  by  the  class, 


THE  BOTANICAL  MUSEUM  OF  SMITH  COLLEGE 

Division  IT-.    Adaptations  .  to 
E.  JLocomotrion,   fy 

Seeds,   tKroi/<7/x  aqentu  of 
Wind,  acting  upon 
Wings.  wkuk^ATv 

OotgrovvtK  of  Seed-doat 


WmqccL  Seeds   d  Tecoma  radtcaTi^ 


FIG.  9.  —  Sample  museum  label. 

though  a  briefer  label  should  also  be  kept  in  each  bottle. 
It  is  well  to  have  the  museum  specimens  always  visible 
and  accessible. 

Theoretically,  an  herbarium  is  a  part  of  a  botanical 
museum,  but  on  account  of  its  special  nature  and  use 
it  is  kept  stored  by  itself  and  not  on  exhibition,  though 
sometimes  a  few  pressed  plants  are  exhibited  behind 


IO6  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

glass,  like  pictures.  For  investigation  into  and  illustra- 
tion of  systematic  Botany,  an  herbarium  is  absolutely 
indispensable ;  but  in  a  teaching  collection,  for  use  where 
the  work  is  not  primarily  systematic,  the  plan  of  the 
collection  should  accord  with  the  plan  of  the  teaching. 
The  question  now  arises  whether  it  is  not  possible  to 
utilize  the  great  ease,  cheapness,  and  compactness  of  the 
herbarium  method  of  preservation  of  plants  in  the 
formation  of  a  collection  to  illustrate  the  principles  of 
morphology,  ecology,  and  natural  history.  I  have  experi- 
mented not  a  little  upon  this  subject  to  the  conclusion 
that  an  herbarium  of  the  greatest  usefulness  can  be 
made  upon  the  same  plan  as  is  outlined  above  for  a 
botanical  museum.  Every  specimen  in  it  would  be 
selected  to  illustrate  some  fact  or  principle,  and  need  not 
at  all  consist  of  an  entire  plant,  but  only  the  portion  of 
it  useful  for  this  purpose.  Drawings,  photographs,  full 
labelling,  etc.,  may  be  incorporated  in  it  much  easier 
than  in  a  museum.  Indeed,  I  am  inclined  to  question 
whether,  in  cases  where  means  and  room  are  very  lim- 
ited, the  herbarium  on  this  plan  may  not  be  superior  to 
the  museum.  It  must,  however,  always  suffer  the  draw- 
back of  not  being  constantly  visible  to  all,  though  even 
this  might  be  overcome  by  keeping  the  sheets  mounted 
in  glass-fronted  frames,  like  pictures.  For  use  with  a 
class  the  sheets  would  temporarily  be  placed  in  glass- 
fronted  frames  with  removable  backs.  Of  course  the 
ordinary  herbarium  methods  would  apply  to  the  prepa- 


BOTANICAL  COLLECTIONS  IO/ 

ration  of  specimens  for  such  a  collection.1  It  may  be 
that  such  an  herbarium  would  find  its  highest  usefulness 
as  a  private  collection,  built  up  to  illustrate  his  own 
studies  by  the  teacher,  or  by  his  best  students.  To  illus- 
trate the  possibilities  of  the  plan,  there  are  here  added 
photographs  of  two  sheets  from  my  own  collection,  one 
ecological  and  one  morphological  (Fig.  io).2 

There  is  yet  another  important  phase  of  herbarium- 
making  in  elementary  teaching.  Many  teachers  are 
accustomed  to  require  from  their  students  the  making  of 
one  of  a  definite  size  as  an  integral  and  important  part 
of  their  courses.  There  are  many  conditions  under 
which  this  plan  seems  to  me  of  value,  as  when  facilities 
for  any  other  actual  work  with  plants  are  entirely  want- 
ing, or  when  overworked  or  undertrained  teachers  can 
give  the  science  but  scanty  attention ;  and  certainly  it 
gives  opportunity  for  careful  manual  work  which  always 
has  moral  value.  But,  viewed  from  the  broader  educa- 
tional standpoint,  the  requirement  of  an  herbarium  from 
elementary  students  seems  to  me  quite  uneconomical,  in 

1  The  fullest  account  of  herbarium  methods  is  contained  in  W.  W. 
Bailey's  "  Botanical  Collectors'  Handbook,"  and  in  Chapter  X,  Section  IV, 
of  Gray's  "  Structural  Botany " ;  there  is  valuable  matter  also  in  the  Her- 
barium Number  of  the  Botanical  Gazette  (June,   1886) ;    in  Mr.  Walter 
Deane's  series  of  five  articles  "  Notes  from  my  Herbarium  "  in  the  Botanical 
Gazette,Vo\s>.  XX  and  XXI;   and  in  L.  H. Bailey's  "Lessons  with  Plants," 
p.  437.     On  preserving  colors  in  dried  flowers,  there  is  a  valuable  note 
in  "Annals  of  Botany,"  Vol.  I,  p.  178. 

2  These  sheets  but  partly  illustrate  the  value  of  the  plan,  as  they  were 
prepared  as  an  experiment  before  it  was  fully  worked  out. 


io8 


THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 


FIG.  10.  —  Photographs  of  two  sheets  from  a  small  morphological  and  ecologi- 
cal herbarium  ;  x  about  J.  In  the  herbarium,  the  uses  or  the  nature  of  the 
parts,  with  the  names  of  the  plants,  are  written  where  the  numbers  (ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  method  of  engraving)  stand  in  the  cut,  and  are  as 
follows  :  The  left-hand  sheet  is  devoted  to  Morphology,  Stipules  ;  i,  stipules 
as  part  of  foliage  (Geum  sp.,  probably);  2,  bud-coverings  (Humulus 
lupulus}  ;  3,  spines  {Euphorbia  splendens)  ;  4,  part  of  foliage  (Galium) ;  5,  all 
of  foliage  (Lathyrus  Aphaca) ;  6,  spines,  also  dwellings  of  protecting  ants 
(Acacia  sphcerocephald)  \  7,  bud-coverings  (Passijlora) ;  8,  tendrils  (Smilax)  ; 
9,  bud-coverings  (Liriodendron  Tulipifera).  The  right-hand  sheet  is  devoted 
to  Ecology,  Climbing  Organs  ;  10,  axis  of  compound  leaf  (Bignonia) ;  n, 
hooked  epidermal  spines  (Rosa  sinica) ;  12,  aerial  roots  (Ficus  repens) ; 
13,  axis  of  leaf  (Lathyrus  Aphaca)  ;  14,  axillary  branch  (Passiflord) ;  15, 
petioles  (Clematis  Virginiand)\  16,  main  stem,  twiner  (Aristolochid) ; 
17,  extra-axillary  branch  (Ampelopsis  Vcitchii)\  18,  stipules  (?)  (Smilax'). 


BOTANICAL  COLLECTIONS  1 09 

that  the  labor  necessary  for  collecting,  drying,  and 
mounting  the  specimens  is  largely  not  botanical,  and 
is  excessive  in  proportion  to  the  amount  learned 
through  it  about  plants.  The  question  before  us  in 
such  cases  is  not  whether  a  thing  is  valuable  or  not,  but 
rather,  what  will  yield  the  largest  returns  for  the  time 
and  energy  expended.  Moreover,  the  great  majority  of 
people  have  no  taste  for  collecting,  and  extremely  few 
ever  keep  it  up ;  so  their  school  labors  in  this  direction 
result  in  a  bulky  pile  difficult  to  store  and  unattractive 
to  preserve.  It  is  not,  I  would  repeat,  that  such  herba- 
rium-making has  in  it  no  profit ;  but  simply  that  it  is  not 
as  a  whole  profitable.  On  the  other  hand,  under  some 
circumstances,  it  may  be  very  valuable,  as  when  it  is 
used  to  cultivate  in  those  with  a  talent  for  natural 
history  the  collecting  instinct,  that  first  and  plainest 
mark  of  the  naturalist.  The  best  plan,  then,  would  seem 
to  be  to  make  the  collecting  voluntary,  to  be  taken  up  by 
those  whom  it  interests. 

As  to  the  plan  of  such  an  herbarium,  what  has 
already  been  said  about  the  museum  herbarium  ap- 
plies here  with  equal  force,  and  I  believe  it  may  best 
represent,  not  the  flora  of  a  region,  but  principles  of 
morphology  and  adaptation.  I  have  found  in  my 
own  experience  that  this  plan  interests  many  who 
care  not  at  all  for  a  floristic  collection.  The  search 
in  the  native  flora  for  examples  of  the  different  forms 
of  stipules,  for  kinds  of  protective  structures,  illus- 


Il6  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

trations  of  marked  adaptations  to  special  habits,  etc., 
must  surely  have  a  zest  not  inferior  to  the  gathering 
of  all  the  species  of  a  given  area,  though  this  also  is 
not  to  be  disparaged.  Moreover,  a  collection  of  this 
kind  has  a  practicable  limit  of  completeness,  which 
a  floristic  one  hardly  has,  and  a  small  one* expresses 
more  than  a  floristic  one  of  the  same  size.  There 
are  other  plans  on  which  herbaria  may  profitably  be 
made.  Professor  L.  H.  Bailey,  in  his  "  Lessons  with 
Plants  "  (pp.  443-444),  recommends  special  collections 
and  suggests  various  sorts. 

In  making  these  students'  herbaria,  most  teachers 
require  the  standard  size  of  mounting  paper,  the  regu- 
lar genus  covers,  etc.  But  while  this  size  (i6Jxiif 
inches)  is  very  convenient  in  large  herbaria  with 
proper  cases,  one  or  two  hundred  of  such  sheets 
make  a  package  very  awkward  to  store  amongst  a 
student's  other  effects,  and  not  easy  to  consult  on 
small  crowded  tables.  This  objection  can  be  overcome 
if  the  sheets  can  be  reduced  to  the  size  of  a  large 
book  and  kept  stored  among  books.  This  I  have 
found  to  be  entirely  practicable,  and  so  advantageous 
that  I  have  adopted  it  for  a  small  private  collec- 
tion of  my  own,  even  in  the  presence  of  the  best  facili- 
ties for  storing  the  larger  size.  Sheets  one-half  the 
usual  size  will  hold  most  specimens  (see  Fig.  10),  and 
those  too  large  can  be  treated  precisely  as  are  those 
too  large  for  the  ordinary  size  of  sheets.  The  speci- 


BOTANICAL  COLLECTIONS  III 

• 

mens  are  firmly  glued  to  the  half  or  somewhat  smaller 
sheets,  which  are  then  placed  between  those  covers 
used  in  colleges  by  students  for  holding  any  num- 
ber of  sheets  of  paper,  and  held  by  paper  fasteners. 
The  thickness  of  the  specimens  is  compensated  by 
extra  strips  or  stubs,  and  additions  and  rearrange- 
ments may  be  made  with  great  ease.  The  collec- 
tion is  then  practically  a  book,  and  may  be  kept 
among  books.  The  specimens  are  amply  large  for 
amateur's  use.  If  it  be  thought  that  specimens  so 
kept  are  particularly  liable  to  dust  and  insect-rav- 
ages, it  must  be  remembered  that  they  are  no  more 
so  than  they  are  in  the  usual  condition  in  which  be- 
ginners keep  them,  and  that  if  one  cares,  he  may 
keep  these  books  also  in  tight  tin  cases.  It  is  some- 
times said  in  favor  of  the  standard  size  that  if  a  stu- 
dent continues  his  studies,  his  collection  will  form  a 
nucleus  for  his  larger  herbarium ;  but  it  is  not  fair 
to  put  the  dozens  who  go  no  further  to  much  incon- 
venience for  the  sake  of  the  rare  one  who  does. 

Specimens  of  the  plants  themselves  include  also  the 
various  anatomical  preparations,  skeletons  to  show  the 
fibre-vascular  system,  wood-sections,  etc.,  and  particu- 
larly microscopical  preparations.  It  is  well  to  have  a 
wide  range  of  the  latter  for  demonstration  and  for 
voluntary  study  by  those  whose  tastes  incline  them  to 
it;  and  it  is  also  profitable  to  have  some  sets  for  use 
in  the  regular  class  work,  as  recommended  in  certain 


112  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

places  in  the  outlines  in  this  book.  These  sets  may 
be  bought  from  various  dealers  in  microscopical  sup- 
plies, but  are  better  made  from  time  to  time  by  the 
teacher  himself,  or  by  the  specialists  among  his  pupils. 
By  the  addition  of  a  few  each  year  a  valuable  col- 
lection will  soon  result.  Proper  cases,  of  many  forms 
and  prices,  for  storing  them  are  supplied  by  dealers. 

Next  in  illustrative  value  after  preparations  of  the 
plants  themselves  would  come,  theoretically,  good 
models  of  them ;  but  practically  I  find  good  pictures 
or  diagrams  better,  and  shall  treat  these  first.  Of 
pictures,  as  a  rule,  photographs  are  best;  and  where 
comprehensive  or  complicated  things  are  to  be  shown, 
or  where  the  actual  living  form  and  surroundings  are 
important,  they  are  indispensable.  Their  chief  draw- 
back is  that  when  large  enough  to  be  shown  to  a  class 
they  are  very  expensive.  This  can  be  overcome  by 
photographing  them  on  glass  and  projecting  them  to 
any  desired  size  on  a  screen  by  the  well-known  stere- 
opticon  method.  This,  however,  is  of  little  use  in  con- 
nection with  laboratory  work  and  is  most  useful  where 
lectures  are  a  part  of  the  mode  of  instruction.  Good 
photographs  thus  appealing  vividly  to  the  mind  through 
the  eye  seem  to  me  of  the  greatest  value,  especially 
for  ecological  studies  (where,  indeed,  they  are  in- 
valuable), and  for  representing  the  natural  appear- 
ance of  many  important  plants  from  foreign  parts 
which  grow  badly  or  not  at  all  in  greenhouses,  or  for 


BOTANICAL  COLLECTIONS  113 

showing  the  general  topography  of  masses  of  vege- 
tation. A  standard  collection,  selected  by  a  specialist, 
of  lantern  slides  of  this  character  which  could  be 
purchased  in  one  set,  would  be  of  great  value  and 
doubtless  will  soon  be  offered  by  some  of  the  dealers, 
who  already  offer  heterogeneous  lots.1  The  best 
stereopticon  is  one  using  the  arc  electric  light;  it  is 
handier,  cheaper,  and  better  than  the  calcium  and 
other  forms,  and  is  so  powerful  as  to  need  no  elaborate 
system  of  dark  shades  to  the  room,  but  may  be  used  in 
almost  full  daylight.  Many  forms  of  such  lanterns  are 
offered;  I  use  to  my  satisfaction  one  made  by  J.  C. 
Colt,  of  New  York.  The  best  screen  is  a  smooth  white 
wall.  With  such  a  lantern,  and  an  ordinary  microscope, 
one  may  also  project  microscopic  objects  up9n  a 
small  screen,  and  thus  show  tissues,  circulating  proto- 
plasm in  Nitella,  etc. ;  but  in  general  the  manipulation 
is  so  time-consuming  and  difficult  that  it  is  hardly 
worth  while  unless  one  has  a  liking  for  that  very 
kind  of  thing.  Where  a  lantern  is  impracticable,  it 
is  still  decidedly  worth  while  to  collect  photographs,  of 
which  many  of  value  are  now  obtainable  from  return- 
ing tourists  and  other  sources.  A  superb  collection 
has  recently  been  made  available  in  Schimper's  new 

1  A  great  number  indeed,  selected  by  Koch,  is  published  by  Kriiss  in 
Hamburg;  a  catalogue  may  be  obtained  from  any  dealer  in  botanical 
supplies.  Unfortunately,  these  are  mostly  but  woodcuts  from  books,  not 
photographs  from  nature.  Most  American  dealers  in  stereopticons  also 
offer  botanical  slides. 


114  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

work  "  Pflanz'engeographie,"  on  which  further  informa- 
tion is  given  in  the  next  chapter.  Large  photographs 
of  microscopic  sections  have  some  value,  and  an  un- 
usually fine  series,  by  Tower,  is  sold  by  Ginn  and 
Company,  Boston. 

After  photographs,  and  for  some  purposes  before 
them,  come  drawings  or  diagrams,  which  are  of  two 
general  sorts,  —  those  intended  to  show  the  very  living 
appearance  of  plants  or  their  parts,  including  enlarged 
views  of  small  organisms,  and  those  intended  merely  to 
help  to  a  vivid  vizualization  of  their  structure.  The 
former  are  not  of  much  value  unless  very  well  done, 
true  in  perspective,  and  correct  in  coloring;  indeed,  it 
may  be  said  their  value  is  in  direct  proportion  to  their 
artistic  excellence.  Good  examples  occur  among  the 
diagrams  of  Kny,  Dodel,  and  Peter,  to  be  mentioned 
below.  Not  much  can  be  done  toward  making  home- 
made diagrams  of  this  kind  unless  an  artist  is  available. 
In  the  second  kind,  however,  those  to  simply  help  the 
mind  to  form  a  three-dimensioned  conception  of  some 
complicated  structure,  the  element  of  objective  correct- 
ness is  not  so  important ;  and  of  such  diagrams  I  think 
the  very  best  is  that  which  grows  before  the  student's 
eyes  on  a  blackboard  under  the  hands  of  a  teacher,  with 
copious  explanation  and  the  aid  of  colored  crayons,  etc. 
Some  skill  in  blackboard  drawing  is  very  desirable  in 
the  teacher,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  in  time  the  in- 
creasing care  devoted  to  the  education  of  teachers  of 


BOTANICAL  COLLECTIONS  115 

Botany  will  lead  to  their  instruction  in  this  useful  art. 
Next  to  such  diagrams,  and  for  some  purposes  superior 
to  them,  are  the  excellent  published  diagrams  of  anat- 
omy in  the  Kny  and  in  the  Dodel  series.  The  best  of 
these  is  that  of  Kny,  with  full  explanations  in  German, 
of  which  one  hundred  have  appeared,  each  84  x  68  cm., 
costing  about  $85  for  the  set,  and  the  teacher  should 
make  every  effort  to  obtain  this  series.  They  should 
be  mounted  on  cloth  for  greater  resistance  to  wear. 
Another  valuable  series  is  that  of  Frank  and  Tschirch, 
devoted  to  the  physiological  aspects  of  structure,  sixty 
in  number,  of  the  same  size  as  Kny's  and  also  with 
explanations  in  German.  The  series  of  Laurent  and 
Errera,  fifteen  in  number,  slightly  larger  than  those  of 
Kny,  with  explanations  in  German,  French,  and  Eng- 
lish, is  also  good.  If  one  cannot  afford  the  Frank 
series,  the  latter  is  a  fair  substitute.  The  Dodel-Port 
series,  slightly  larger  than  the  Kny  series,  is  also 
valuable,  as  is  the  Peter  series,  published  by  Fischer 
in  Berlin.  Full  particulars  of  these  may  be  obtained 
through  any  of  the  dealers  in  botanical  supplies  or  in 
foreign  books. 

Many  teachers  value  diagrams  made  by  themselves 
or  students  above  these  printed  kinds,  holding  that  they 
have  much  more  meaning,  and  hence  value,  and  are 
also  much  cheaper.  There  are  several  methods  of 
making  them.  One  of  the  simplest  and  best  is  the 
use  of  strong,  light-brown  manila  paper  for  the  back- 


Il6  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

ground,  and  India  ink,  applied  with  a  brush,  for  the 
lines.  This  method  is  inexpensive,  easy,  and  gives  a 
pleasing  combination.  If  one  wishes  to  use  colors, 
water-colors  are  best;  but  a  fair  substitute  may  be 
found  in  colored  crayons,  which  may  be  prevented 
from  rubbing  by  a  previous  immersion  in  melted  soft 
paraffin  until  the  bubbles  cease  to  come  off,  or  by 
spraying  the  drawing  through  an  atomizer  with  a  weak 
solution  of  gum  arabic.1 

The  best  method  known  to  me  of  hanging  diagrams 
when  in  use  has  already  been  described  (see  Fig.  5). 
For  storing  they  should  be  as  nearly  as  possible  of  one 
size,  of  which  the  Kny  series  is  a  standard  (84  x  68  cm.). 
They  may  then  be  very  conveniently  kept  in  shallow, 
upright  cases  built  against  the  wall,  a  foot  above  the 
floor,  with  the  front  hinged  on  the  bottom  so  as  to  drop 
forward  a  few  inches  at  the  top,  as  shown  in  the  accom-j 
panying  diagrammatic  cross-section ;  a  chain  keeps  the 
front  from  falling  too  far  (Fig.  n). 

Another  very  valuable  class  of  illustrations  includes 
those  in  special  monographs  or  technical  papers ;  and 
where  a  good  library  is  available,  free  use  should  be 
made  of  these  original  sources  of  information. 

Many  teachers  would  probably  place  models  before 
diagrams  in  illustrative  value,  and  chiefly  because  these,  I 

1  Another  method  is  fully  described,  and  there  are  other  valuable 
hints  upon  this  subject,  in  "Natural  History  Charts  and  Illustrations," 
by  J.  W.  Harshberger,  in  Education,  April,  1897. 


BOTANICAL  COLLECTIONS 


117 


like  the  objects  they  represent,  are  of  three,  not  two,  di- 
mensions. The  latter  point  is,  I  think,  of  more  theoreti- 
cal than  practical  importance  ;  and  proper  perspective  in 
drawings,  and  especially  in  photographs,  gives  the  same 
result.  Moreover,  models  are 
far  more  difficult  and  expensive 
to  construct  with  accuracy  and 
truth  to  nature  than  are  draw- 
ings, and  this  applies  particu- 
larly to  minutiae  of  structure.  \) 
Botanical  models  are  generally 
made  of  papier-mache  or  gela- 
tine, sometimes  of  wax  or  glass. 
Enlarged  models  of  flowers  or 
other  parts,  which  are  familiar 
to  everybody  in  a  living  con- 
dition, seem  such  a  grotesque 
parody  of  nature  that  they 
inspire  more  amusement  than 
respect  in  the  student,  espe- 


\\ 


daily  in  those   kinds  made  to  FIG.  „.  _  A  successful  box  for 

Come     apart     tO     show    what    is         storage  of  diagrams,  in  cross- 
section.      The    dotted    lines 
Concealed   within.       To  USe  SUCh         show  it   open.     Scale,  about 

elaborate  methods   to  illustrate 


I  inch  =  i  foot. 


facts  which  any  one,  with  aid  of  a  knife,  can  see  in 
a  minute  with  his  own  eyes  seems  to  be  carrying  the 
good  principle  of  clear  illustration  over  the  bounds 
of  the  useful  into  the  ridiculous.  It  certainly  is  pos- 


Il8  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

sible  to  refine  illustration  to  a  needless  and  enervating 
extent.  These  objections,  however,  do  not  apply  to 
enlarged  models  of  minute  and  difficult  subjects,  such 
as  embryological  development,  nor  to  models  of  entirely 
unfamiliar  objects ;  and  especially  they  do  not  apply  to 
such  models  as  the  Blaschka  series  in  the  Botanical 
Museum  of  Harvard  University,  which  inspire  in  the 
beholder  no  sensation  except  wonder  and  admiration. 

The  principal  makers  of  botanical  models  are  Auzoux, 
of  Paris,  and  Brendel,  of  Berlin,  and  in  this  country 
Kny  and  Company,  of  New  York,  make  a  specialty  of 
their  importation.  There  are  purchasable,  also,  useful 
models  of  spiral  vessels,  of  stomata  made  of  rubber 
so  they  may  be  inflated,  of  fibro-vascular  bundles  in 
growth,  etc.,  the  usefulness  of  all  of  which  varies  with 
the  individuality  of  the  teacher. 


VII.     ON   BOTANICAL   BOOKS  AND 
THEIR   USE 

BOOKS  are  the  storehouses  of  knowledge,  but  in 
order  to  make  full  use  of  their  advantages,  one  must 
learn  where  and  how  to  seek  in  them  that  which  he 
needs.  How  to  use  books  profitably  is  therefore  an 
important  phase  of  the  education  of  both  teacher  and 
student.  For  the  teaching  botanist,  books  fall  into 
three  classes  :  first,  those  to  be  read  for  self -improve- 
ment ;  second,  books  of  reference ;  third,  text-books 
for  class  use. 

In  the  preceding  chapters  I  have  tried  to  emphasize 
the  real  aim  of  scientific  teaching,  which  is  the  culti- 
vation of  -the  scientific  habit  of  mind  to  the  end  that 
a  scientific  instinct  may  become  a  part  of  the  student's 
mentality.  No  teacher  who  lacks  this  scientific  habit 
of  thought,  or  who  has  it  but  indifferently  developed, 
can  lead  others  into  it,  and  he  is  likely  to  be  the 
most  successful  teacher  who  has  it  the  best  developed. 
Self-improvement  in  this  respect  is  therefore  a  first 
duty  of  every  teacher,  and  while  the  best  of  all  ways 
lies  through  original  investigation,  something  can  be 
accomplished  by  the  reading  of  good  books,  especially 
such  as  are  recognized  as  models  of  scientific  exposi- 

119 


I2O  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

tion.  In  reading  such  books,  however,  it  will  be  of 
little  use  to  skim  them  for  their  facts  or  their  rhetoric ; 
but  the  reader  must  minutely  enter  into  the  spirit  of 
the  work,  try  to  put  himself  into  the  very  mental 
attitude  of  the  writer,  with  him  view  the  original  data, 
follow  him  as  he  marshals  these  into  their  proper 
relative  positions,  and  try  even  to  anticipate  him  in  the 
deduction  of  his  general  principles.  Happily  there 
are  many  good  books  which  will  fully  repay  such 
reading. 

Upon  the  general  subject  of  scientific  education, 
and  the  true  place  of  science  in  education,  there  are 
first  of  all  the  various  addresses  of  Huxley,  contained 
in  his  .Collected  Essays,  particularly  in  the  volume 
entitled  "Science  and  Education."  •  Of  the  greatest 
importance  are  also  the  addresses  of  President  Eliot, 
now  accessible  in  his  "  Educational  Reform."  Among 
books  which  are  models  of  scientific  argument,  I  think 
the  first  place  should  be  given  to  Darwin's  "Origin 
of  Species " ;  and  if  the  teacher  can  thoroughly  study 
but  one  book,  it  should  be  this.  Its  matter  has  some 
of  it  been  superseded,  but  its  spirit  has  not.  Sug- 
gested naturally  by  this  work  are  others  of  Darwin's, 
of  which,  perhaps,  the  "  Power  of  Movement  in 
Plants "  would  most  interest  the  botanist.  Some  of 
Huxley's  biological  essays  are  also  not  inferior  to 
Darwin's  in  scientific  exposition,  and  are  much  supe- 
rior in  literary  form,  but  their  subjects  are  of  less 


BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND   THEIR  USE  121 

botanical  importance.  There  is,  however,  a  series  of 
botanical  essays  which  are  among  the  best  of  models, 
those  of  Dr.  Asa  Gray,  contained  in  his  "Scientific 
Writings,"  particularly  those  that  relate  to  geographi- 
cal distribution,  though  nearly  all  in  the  two  vol- 
umes will  attract  and  instruct  the  American  botanist. 
Another  model  of  scientific  writing,  a  work  of  charm- 
ing style  and  great  force,  and  one  that  it  will  pay 
every  teacher  to  read  from  cover  to  cover,  is  Sachs's 
"  Lectures  on  the  Physiology  of  Plants."  Sachs's 
"  History  of  Botany "  is  also  a  classic,  most  readable 
and  suggestive.  There  is  one  disadvantage  common 
to  all  of  these  works,  but  one  unavoidable  in  all 
scientific  books  while  the  science  is  advancing  as 
rapidly  as  at  present;  namely,  much  of  their  matter 
has  been  superseded  by  later  researches.  This  draw- 
back the  teacher  can  in  part  compensate  by  reading 
good  new  works  as  they  appear,  whose  standing  can 
be  judged  by  the  reviews  of  them  in  the  botanical 
journals. 

It  is,  of  course,  of  the  greatest  profit  to  the  teacher 
to  keep  in  touch  with  botanical  progress  through  the 
botanical  journals.  The  leading  journal  of  this  coun- 
try is  the  Botanical  Gazette,  which,  in  addition  to 
technical  articles,  gives  summaries  of  new  discoveries, 
reviews  of  new  books,  and  many  notes  of  general 
interest,  though  naturally  most  of  the  matter  is  not 
utilizable  except  by  those  who  haye  had  thorough 


122  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

college  courses  in  botany.  The  Bulletin  of  the 
Torrey  Botanical  Club,  another  leading  journal,  is 
very  special  in  character.  There  is  also  much  of 
botanical  interest  in  Science,  the  leading  American 
scientific  journal,  which  every  teacher  of  scientific  sub- 
jects should  certainly  read  regularly.  Of  a  much 
more  popular  character  is  the  Plant  World;  and 
the  Asa  Gray  Bulletin  makes  a  special  effort  to 
provide  material  of  value  to  school-teachers  of  ele- 
mentary classes  in  Botany.  To  teachers  in  New 
England  who  are  studying  the  New  England  flora, 
Rhodora  will  be  indispensable.  Particulars  as  to 
price,  etc.,  of  these  journals  will  be  found  in  the 
Bibliography  at  the  end  of  this  chapter.  Of  course 
there  are  very  numerous  special  botanical  journals, 
but  these  mentioned  are  likely  to  be  of  most  impor- 
tance to  the  American  teacher  of  elementary  courses. 
Sample  copies  may  be  obtained  of  any  of  them  from 
the  publishers.  Where  the  teacher  lives  near  a  public 
library,  the  authorities  can  no  doubt  be  induced  to 
add  some  of  these  to  their  reading  rooms,  and  indeed 
the  rarer  or  more  expensive  botanical  books  are  often 
obtainable  in  this  way. 

There  will  be  a  place  in  the  teacher's  reading,  and  in 
that  of  his  students  also,  for  books  of  a  less  special 
character  which  may  be  read  for  both  instruction  and 
entertainment.  Among  such  works,  one  of  the  very  best 
is  Wallace's  "Malay  Archipelago,"  Another  classic 


BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND  THEIR  USE  123 

work  is  Bates's  "  Naturalist  on  the  Amazons,"  and 
another  is  Belt's  "  Naturalist  in  Nicaragua,"  while  for 
great  interest  as  a  book  of  travel  combined  with  philo- 
sophical observations  upon  natural  history,  Forbes's 
"Wanderings  of  a  Naturalist  in  the  Eastern  Archi- 
pelago "  must  rank  very  high.  To  these  I  would  add 
two  books  by  Hudson,  "The  Naturalist  in  La  Plata" 
and  "  Idle  Days  in  Patagonia,"  which  works  in  my 
opinion  are  quite  unmatched  for  their  combination  of 
intense  interest,  clear  scientific  description,  and  fine 
literary  form.  Most  of  these  books  deal,  it  is  true, 
much  more  with  animals  than  with  plants  ;  but  they  will 
not  lack  interest  for  the  botanist  on  that  account.  If 
one  would  read  a  very  entertaining  and  instructive  book 
in  German,  he  should  take  Haberlandt's  "  Eine  botan- 
ische  Tropenreise,"  a  book  of  travels  in  the  tropics  by 
a  botanist,  a  work  commended  to  young  botanists 
studying  German.  And  all  young  botanists  should 
study  German,  for  they  cannot  go  far  in  scientific  study 
without  a  knowledge  of  it. 

A  class  of  books  very  influential  for  good,  and  as  yet 
far  too  few  in  number,  are  collections  of  essays  upon 
important  botanical  topics,  written  authoritatively  and 
attractively.  Such  works  are  useful  both  to  teacher  and 
students,  and  to  general  non-scientific  readers  as  well, 
and  they  may  attract  to  the  science  many  who  would 
not  think  of  approaching  it  through  its  more  scientific 
phases.  Such  a  book,  warmly  to  be  commended  for  its. 


124  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

combination  of  scientific  spirit  with  attractiveness  of 
style,  is  Geddes's  "  Chapters  in  Modern  Botany."  An- 
other is  Sir  John  Lubbock's  "  Flowers,  Fruits,  and 
Leaves,"  devoted  to  some  of  the  most  attractive  of 
ecological  problems.  Another  is  Sargent's  recent 
"  Corn  Plants."  Another,  concerned  mainly  with  physi- 
ological topics,  is  Arthur  and  MacDougal's  "  Properties 
of  Living  Plants."  A  very  modest  and  little-known 
book  of  ecology  is  Dr.  Gray's  "  How  Plants  Behave." 
Of  this  character,  too,  are  the  chapters  in  Kerner  and 
Oliver's  "  Natural  History  of  Plants,"  a  superbly  illus- 
trated four-volume  work,  which  is  a  perfect  treasury  of 
ecological  information  and  suggestion.  It  must  be  used 
with  some  caution,  however,  since  its  author  is  over- 
sanguine  at  times  in  his  discovery  of  adaptations  where 
others  have  not  been  able  to  see  them.  But  caution  is 
necessary  in  reading  all  books,  and  it  is  needful  ever  to 
remember  that  a  thing  is  not  necessarily  true  because 
even  the  best  book  says  it  is.  Another  volume  of 
botanical  essays  full  of  interest  and  suggestiveness, 
dealing  with  evolutionary  topics,  is  Bailey's  "Survival 
of  the  Unlike,"  and  indeed  one  may  well  bring  the  same 
author's  "  Lessons  with  Plants  "  into  books  of  this  class, 
especially  for  young  people.  Such  books  should  be  in 
every  school  library,  and  students  allowed  the  freest 
access  to  them.  The  above  list  by  no  means  includes 
all  good  books  of  this  sort,  but  only  some  of  the  best 
of  them,  and  all  grades  exist  from  these  down  to  good 


BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND  THEIR  USE  12$ 

popular  works,  and  through  these  to  many  that  are  of 
little  or  no  value.  I  have  not  myself  given  attention  to 
the  popular  books,  but  there  are  references  to  a  few 
of  the  best  in  L.  H.  Bailey's  "  Lessons  with  Plants," 

P-  443- 

Passing  next  to  the  important  subject  of  reference 
books,  I  shall  enumerate  the  best  in  each  department 
of  work  likely  to  be  taken  up  in  an  elementary  course. 
Reference  books  have  several  purposes  for  the  teaching 
botanist :  they  are  sources  of  information  when  new 
points  come  up  on  which  information  is  needed ;  they 
supply  new  methods  in  manipulation  when  new  subjects 
are  taken  up ;  they  are  full  of  suggestions  to  the  brighter 
students  who  take  pleasure  in  looking  through  them ; 
and  they  supply  illustrations  and  additional  subject- 
matter  for  fuller  treatment  of  particular  topics.  They 
.should  always  be  accessible  in  the  laboratory,  and 
students  should  be  encouraged  to  use  them  constantly, 
following  up  through  the  indexes  the  topics  in  which 
they  may  be  interested.  This  habit  of  constantly  con- 
sulting the  literature  is  a  most  important  one  to  cultivate 
in  students.  Where  a  school  library  cannot  afford  all 
of  these  books,  but  can  buy  some,  the  first  mentioned 
under  each  of  the  classes  here  described  should  be 
selected.  Text-books  will  be  considered  by  themselves 
later.  The  following  list  is,  of  course,  not  intended  to 
be  exhaustive,  but  simply  to  include  the  most  recent 
and  authoritative  works.  The  science-  is  advancing  so 


*?*=• 

n. 


126  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

rapidly  that  even  the  best  of  books  are  soon  superseded 
unless  kept  up  with  advances  by  new  editions. 

Upon  structural  botany  (i.e.  external  anatomy)  the 
work  of  undisputed  preeminence  is  Gray's  "  Structural 
Botany,"  a  very  clearly  written  and  well-illustrated 
work;  and  in  condensed  form  the  same  merits  prevail 
in  his  " 'Elements  of  Botany."  The'  morphology  of 
these  works,  however,  is  not  modern  in  spirit,  but  of  a 
formal  sort,  largely  laid  aside  by  modern  investigation. 
On  morphology  the  most  authoritative  work  is  Goebel's 
"  Organographie  der  Pflanzen,"  now  appearing  in  parts, 
a  work  for  which  there  is  no  equivalent  in  English,  and 
which,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  soon  be  translated.  There 
is  really  at  present  no  work  in  English  giving  the 
results  of  modern  studies  on  the  morphology  of  the 
higher  plants,  though  several  of  the  text-books  men- 
tioned later  contain  it  in  part. 

In  physiology  we  may  distinguish  two  classes  of 
works,  those  giving  practical  directions  for  experimen- 
tation and  the  general  hand-books  or  text-books.  Of 
the  former,  MacDougal's  "  Experimental  Plant  Physi- 
ology "  is  one  of  the  simplest  and  most  practical  works. 
Darwin  and  Acton's  "  Practical  Physiology  of  Plants  " 
(second  edition)  is  most  excellent  and  suggestive,  while 
Detmer's  widely  used  work,  translated  into  English 
by  Moor  as  "  Practical  Plant  Physiology,"  combines  a 
practical  laboratory  guide  with  a  good  text-book  of  the 
subject.  Of  general  works  on  plant  physiology,  the; 


BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND  THEIR  USE  1 27 

most  readable  and  illuminating,  though  one  now  much 
behind  the  present  state  of  knowledge,  is  Sachs's  "  Lec- 
tures on  the  Physiology  of  Plants,"  a  work  that  should 
be  much  used  for  the  value  of  its  point  of  view.  The 
greatest  work  on  physiology  is  Pfeffer's  "Pflanzen physi- 
ologic," of  which  Volume  I  has  appeared,  with  Volume 
II  to  follow  soon;  the  work  is  being  translated  into 
English,  and  will  be  indispensable  to  every  botanical 
library.  Another  most  excellent  book,  very  direct  and 
suggestive,  is  Sorauer's  work,  translated  by  Weiss  as 
"  Popular  Treatise  on  the  Physiology  of  Plants."  Vines's 
"Lectures  on  the  Physiology  of  Plants"  is  also  very 
excellent,  though  now  needing  revision.  A  book  much 
used  in  this  country  is  Goodale's  "  Vegetable  Physiol- 
ogy," a  clear  synopsis  of  its  subject,  but  now  also  much 
in  need  of  revision.  Of  course  the  various  modern 
text-books  to  be  mentioned  later  contain  physiological 
sections. 

The  very  important  and  rapidly  developing  subject 
of  ecology  has  not  yet  many  good  works  in  English. 
First  among  them  are  several  of  Darwin's  books,  which 
are  foundation  works  in  some  phases  of  ecology. 
Highest  among  general  works  would  stand  Kerner  and 
Oliver's  "Natural  History  of  Plants,"  which  is  to  be 
consulted  with  the  caution  already  referred  to.  In 
German  there  are  important  works  by  Ludwig  and  by 
Wiesner.  In  one  of  its  most  practical  and  interesting 
aspects,  namely,  in  the  explanation  of  the  causes  of 


128  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

the  topography  or  physiognomy  of  vegetation,  and  the 
distribution  of  the  different  forms,  there  is  a  most 
admirable  work  by  Warming,  written  in  Danish,  and 
translated  into  German  under  the  name  "  Oekologische 
Pflanzengeographie,"  and  now  being  translated  into 
English.  More  recent,  and  noteworthy  for  its  great 
authority,  its  remarkably  full  and  clear  treatment  of 
its  subject,  and  its  superb  illustrations,  is  Schimper's 
"  Pflanzengeographie  auf  physiologischer  Grundlage." 
This  work  should  be  in  every  botanical  library  for  its 
illustrations  alone,  even  if  one  cannot  read  German.  It 
supplies  by  far  the  best  collection  of  botanical,  espe- 
cially ecological,  photographs  ever  published.  One  of 
the  most  important  phases  of  ecology  is  that  of  the 
locomotion  of  pollen  (often  wrongly  called  cross-ferti- 
lization) ;  and  on  this  there  is  a  most  valuable  work  by 
M uller,  translated  into  English  by  Thompson,  under  the 
title  "  Fertilisation  of  Flowers."  This  is  in  great  part 
arranged  on  the  dictionary  principle,  so  that  it  is  easy 
to  find  out  what  is  known  of  the  pollination  of  any 
particular  flower.  Much  has  been  discovered  since  its 
publication  ;  and  a  recent  work  by  Knuth,  "  Handbuch 
der  Blutenbiologie,"  in  two  volumes  with  more  to  come, 
brings  the  subject  down  to  this  date,  at  least  for  Euro- 
pean plants.  On  the  attractive  subject  of  seed-loco- 
motion there  is  no  single  large  work  in  English,  but 
an  excellent  little  book  is  Beal's  "Seed  Dispersal." 
Parwin's  works  on  fertilization  of  flowers,  and  his 


BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND  THEIR  USE  129 

"Climbing  Plants,"  contain  much  ecology,  and  two  of 
the  most  recent  text-books,  those  by  Barnes  and  by 
Atkinson,  contain  sections  specially  devoted  to  it. 

For  microscopic  anatomy  there  is  one  very  excellent 
work,  full  of  the  most  practical  and  the  most  scientific 
information,  Strasburger's  "  Das  botanische  Practicum," 
of  which  there  is  a  condensation  called  "  Das  kleine 
botanische  Practicum,"  translated  by  Hillhouse,  under 
the  title  "Practical  Botany."  By  aid  of  this  book 
one  could,  without  a  teacher,  work  through  a  valuable 
course  in  plant  anatomy;  and  it  would  be  a  great 
advantage  if  there  were  similar  works  for  other  phases 
of  the  science.  On  the  ecological  phases  of  the 
minute  anatomy  of  plants  the  great  work  is  Haber- 
landt's  "  Physiologische  Pflanzenanatomie,"  a  work  that 
is  unfortunately  not  translated.  De  Bary's  work,  trans- 
lated by  Bower  and  Scott  as  "Comparative  Anatomy 
of  the  Vegetative  Organs  of  Phanerogams  and  Ferns," 
is  a  standard,  of  great  fulness  and  authority. 

On  the  natural  history  of  the  groups  of  plants  are  sev- 
eral excellent  works,  of  which  the  greatest  is  Engler  and 
Prantl's  "  Die  natiirlichen  Pflanzenfamilien,"  in  German, 
of  which  twelve  volumes  have  appeared  with  three  or 
four  to  follow,  profusely  illustrated  and  most  authorita- 
tive. Goebel's  work,  translated  as  "  Outlines  of  Special 
Morphology  and  Classification,"  is  very  valuable,  but 
needs  revision.  More  recent  is  Warming's  excellent 
work,  translated  by  Potter,  under  the  title  "  Systematic 


I3O  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

Botany."  Some  of  the  text-books  to  be  mentioned 
below,  notably  Strasburger's  and  Vines's,  give  good  sy- 
nopses of  the  groups,  as  do  also  Atkinson's  and  Barnes's 
works.  For  an  account  of  the  groups  from  the  ecologi- 
cal and  evolutionary  standpoint,  there  is  an  admirable 
little  work,  entitled  "Evolution  of  Plants,"  by  Camp- 
bell, which  every  school  library  should  possess,  and 
which  should  be  well  read  in  connection  with  any 
school  course  treating  the  natural  history  of  plants. 

A  group  of  books  which  from  some  points  of  view 
may  be  considered  as  text-books,  but  which  I  think 
rather  should  be  viewed  as  books  of  reference,  are  the 
laboratory  guides.  These  are  books  giving  full  labora- 
tory directions  for  the  practical  working  out  of  impor- 
tant topics,  and  the  student  is  supposed  to  have  them 
open  before  him  as  he  works.  The  great  objection  to 
them  as  a  class  is  that  they  necessarily  presuppose 
certain  materials,  and  these  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to 
provide ;  and  the  restriction  they  impose  upon  a  good 
teacher  is  unbearable.  On  the  other  hand,  as  sugges- 
tions for  the  construction  of  guides  by  the  teacher 
for  his  own  class,  they  have  much  value,  and  it  is 
chiefly  for  this  purpose  the  guides  in  Part  II  of  this 
book  are  offered.  Of  the  laboratory  guides,  one  of 
the  most  recent  and  excellent  is  Spalding's  "  Intro- 
duction to  Botany,"  which,  however,  gives  no  attention 
to  practical  physiology,  though  it  has  excellent  summary 
chapters  containing  much  ecology.  Another  is  Setch- 


BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND  THEIR  USE  131 

ell's  "Laboratory  Practice  for  Beginners  in  Botany," 
which  is  confined  to  the  higher  plants  and  excludes 
practical  physiology,  though  it  gives  great  attention  to 
ecology.  It  is  prepared  upon  the  unusual  plan  of 
telling  the  student  in  detail  what  he  will  see — a  plan 
that  few  teachers  consider  pedagogically  profitable. 
Macbride's  "  Lessons  in  Botany  "  is  excellent  within  its 
limits,  but  it  is  too  exclusively  structural.  Older  books 
of  this  class,  but  excellent  and  influential  nevertheless, 
are  the  botanical  part  of  Huxley  and  Martin's  "  Ele- 
mentary Biology"  and  Arthur,  Barnes,  and  Coulter's 
"  Manual  of  Plant  Dissection."  The  latter  work,  in 
particular,  has  been  much  and  profitably  used  in  this 
country.  Many  practical  laboratory  directions  are 
given  in  several  of  the  text-books  to  be  mentioned 
below,  notably  Bergen's,  Barnes's,  and  Atkinson's. 

Intermediate  between  these  laboratory  guides  and 
true  text-books  come  books  that  are  primarily  guides 
to  observation,  though  they  may  also  give  much  infor- 
mation, and  to  some  extent  are  usable  as  text-books. 
A  very  notable  and  excellent  work  of  this  sort  is  L.  H. 
Bailey's  "  Lessons  with  Plants,"  a  book  replete  with 
suggestions,  new  points  of  view,  and  valuable  infor- 
mation. Another  in  the  same  spirit,  but  less  elaborate, 
is  Miss  Newell's  "  Outlines  of  Lessons  in  Botany  "  with 
its  accompanying  valuable  Readers. 

We  pass  next  to  consider  text-books  proper  —  works 
intended  to  be  studied  fully  and  carefully  by  the  indi- 


132  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

vidual  student.  Such  books  were  formerly  all-impor- 
tant and  all-sufficient  in  botanical  education.  With 
the  rise  of  the  laboratory  method  of  instruction  they 
fell  into  disfavor,  and  many  teachers  attempted  to  teach 
without  them  or  with  the  aid  only  of  laboratory  guides, 
on  the  ground  that  the  student  should  learn  only  from 
nature.  Experience,  however,  is  showing  that  labora- 
tory study,  while  absolutely  essential  for  the  training  of 
natural  powers  and  the  correct  understanding  of  natural 
facts  and  phenomena,  is,  nevertheless,  not  alone  suffi- 
cient ;  for,  dealing  as  it  necessarily  does,  even  at  its  best, 
with  a  few  selected  types,  the  view  it  gives  of  the  sub- 
ject is  more  or  less  disconnected  and  incomplete,  the 
more  especially  since  many  topics  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance cannot  for  practical  reasons  be  introduced  into 
the  laboratory  at  all.  Of  course,  instruction  by  lectures, 
or  talks  by  the  teacher,  partly  overcomes  these  draw- 
backs; but  I,  in  common  with  other  teachers,  have 
found  after  trial  of  different  plans  that  it  is  an  immense 
advantage  to  the  students  to  have  some  good  book  to 
which  they  can  turn  for  additional  information,  and  for 
correcting  the  many  errors  and  distortions  that  inev- 
itably arise  from  lectures  and  laboratory  work  alone. 
It  is  well  to  require  students  to  read  such  a  book  with 
great  care.  It  does  not  matter  whether  or  not  the  book 
follows  the  same  course  as  the  teacher's  instruction, 
though  the  more  nearly  they  correspond  the  better. 
This  book  should  be  a  text-book  in  the  true  sense,  a 


BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND  THEIR  USE  133 

book  of  botanical  texts,  as  clearly,  attractively,  induc- 
tively, synthetically  written  as  possible.  It  should  not 
be  complicated  by  laboratory  directions  or  pedagogic 
matter,  all  of  which  belong  in  a  separate  work.  Indeed, 
the  later  text-books  show  a  tendency  to  separate  the 
text-book  proper  from  the  laboratory  guides  and 
directions,  and  to  make  the  former  simply  an  attractive 
and  instructive  reading  book.  Such  a  separation  has 
always  been  shown  in  the  German  text-books,  and  is 
carried  out  in  this  country  in  Barnes's  recent  "  Plant 
Life,"  and  the  logical  extreme  of  this  principle  has 
produced  the  present  work.  In  the  use  of  the  text- 
book there  is  one  golden  rule,  i.e.  never  to  require 
reading  in  it  upon  any  laboratory  topic  until  after  that 
topic  has  been  studied  in  the  laboratory.  The  labora- 
tory study  not  only  allows  of  much  more  intelligent 
and  appreciative  reading  upon  the  topics  there  taken 
up,  but  each  topic  thus  studied  forms  a  point  of  van- 
tage from  which  excursions  into  the  unknown  may 
profitably  be  made.  We  all  know  how  much  more 
any  account  of  a  country  or  city  means  to  us  after  we 
have  been  there,  even  though  we  have  seen  but  a  small 
part  of  it ;  and  it  is  so  with  accounts  of  organisms. 

Of  good  text-books  for  use  in  elementary  courses 
there  are  several.  The  latest  published  in  this  coun- 
try is  Atkinson's  "  Elementary  Botany,"  a  concisely 
written,  modern,  finely  illustrated  work,  from  the 
physiological  standpoint,  with  much  attention  to  mor- 


134  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

phology  and  ecology,  and  constant  practical  direc- 
tions for  laboratory  study.  Similar  in  these  respects 
is  Barnes's  "  Plant  Life,"  a  book  but  a  few  months 
older;  but  this  is  less  a  laboratory  book,  and  more  a 
work  for  reading.  More  recent  than  either  is  Vines's 
"  Elementary  Text-book  of  Botany,"  a  thorough  and 
valuable  work,  whose  plan,  however,  hardly  fits  our 
methods  of  instruction  in  this  country  as  closely  as 
do  those  of  Barnes  and  of  Atkinson.  Somewhat  the 
same  may  be  said  of  a  text-book  which  is  perhaps 
in  the  abstract  the  best  that  has  appeared  in  recent 
years,  the  "Text-book  of  Botany,"  by  Strasburger, . 
Noll,  Schenck,  and  Schimper.  This  book  is  written 
by  four  leading  scientific  experts,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  reliable,  readable,  and  best  illustrated  of  botani- 
cal books,  and,  whether  used  as  a  text-book  or  not, 
it  is  an  invaluable  reference  work  that  no  library 
should  be  without.  It  may  be  bought  in  two  parts, 
of  which  the  first  is  of  most  importance  to  the  aver- 
age teacher.  Another  recent  American  text-book  is 
that  by  Curtis,  "An  Elementary  Text-book  of  Bot- 
any." Another  work,  particularly  adapted  to  schools, 
is  Bergen's  "  Introduction  to  Botany,"  which  com- 
bines both  text-book  and  laboratory  directions,  and  is 
modern  in  matter  and  spirit.  For  schools  that  have 
scanty  equipment  and  cannot  give  abundant  time  to 
a  course,  this  work  is  particularly  advantageous. 
Gray's  "  Elements  of  Botany "  is  in  its  own  field  a 


BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND  THEIR   USE  135 

most  excellent  work  and  one  that  can  hardly  be 
superseded ;  but  its  standpoint  is  not  modern,  and  its 
morphology  is  in  places  out  of  harmony  with  pres- 
ent opinions.  Another  excellent  work  that  has  had 
wide  use  is  Bessey's  "  Botany,"  of  which  there  is  an 
abridged  edition  called  "The  Essentials  of  Botany." 
Clark's  "  Laboratory  Manual  of  Botany "  is  a  work 
prepared  in  the  modern  spirit,  but  it  has  not  been 
favorably  received  by  those  competent  to  judge  of  its 
merits  from  a  scientific  point  of  view.  The  various 
laboratory  guides  by  Spalding,  Setchell,  and  others 
have  already  been  referred  to.  There  are,  of  course, 
yet  other  text-books,  including  several  written  in  Eng- 
land, in  Germany,  and  in  France.  So  far  as  text-books 
for  elementary  work  are  concerned,  it  is  more  likely 
that  one  written  in  any  particular  country  will  be  better 
adapted  to  methods  of  instruction  in  vogue  there  than 
would  be  the  case  with  one  written  in  another  country. 
And  it  must  also  be  remembered  that,  owing  to  the 
advancement  of  science,  those  books  written  by  ac- 
.tive  scientific  experts,  and  those  that  are  newest,  are 
likely  to  be  the  best. 

There  remains  yet  one  other  class  of  books  to  be 
considered,  —  manuals  for  use  in  classification.  The 
classic  work  for  northeastern  North  America  is 
Gray's  "  Manual,"  sixth  edition.  The  system  of 
classification  represented  by  it,  however,  is  being  gen- 
erally abandoned,  and  a  new  edition  is  needed.  A 


136  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

special  edition  with  leather  cover  and  thin  paper  is 
issued  for  use  in  the  field.  Covering  about  the  same 
ground  and  embodying  the  newer  classification, 
though  also  embodying  a  system  of  naming  of  the 
plants  not  yet  widely  accepted,  is  Britton  and  Brown's 
"  Illustrated  Flora,"  in  three  volumes.  This  gives  a 
simple  outline  illustration  for  each  species.  A  kind 
of  work  that  is  very  much  needed,  and  which  is  sure 
in  the  future  to  be  prepared,  is  one  that  will  be  at 
the  same  time  a  synopsis  of  classification  and  of  nat- 
ural history,  giving  the  habits  and  marked  adapta- 
tions of  each  species.  For  the  Southern  States  there 
is  Chapman's  "  Flora,"  and  for  the  Rocky  Mountain 
region,  Coulter's  "  Manual."  For  the  Pacific  slope 
there  is  not  yet  a  compact  manual  comparable  with 
the  above-mentioned,  though  Greene's  "  Manual  of 
the  Botany  of  the  Region  of  San  Francisco  Bay," 
and  Howell's  "  Flora  of  Northwest  America,"  partly 
cover  that  region.  Of  reference  works  for  such  stud- 
ies, there  are  many,  of  which  Gray's  "  Synoptical 
Flora  of  North  America  "  is  the  most  important.  For 
the  study  of  garden  plants,  Gray's  "  Field,  Forest, 
and  Garden  Botany,"  revised  by  Bailey,  is  the  only 
work.  In  this  connection  may  be  mentioned  mono- 
graphs of  special  groups,  of  which  by  far  the  great- 
est, and  one  of  the  most  splendid  works  in  every 
respect  that  has  ever  appeared,  is  Sargent's  "  Silva 
of  North  America,"  in  twelve  volumes,  exhaustively 


BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND  THEIR  USE  137 

describing  every  species  of  tree  in  North  America. 
Of  a  similar  character  is  Eaton's  "  Ferns  of  North 
America,"  which  describes,  though  on  a  less  elabo- 
rate scale,  all  of  our  ferns.  Of  books  designed  as 
guides  to  the  study  of  particular  groups,  there  are  a 
few  of  feal  authority.  Underwood's  "  Our  Native 
Ferns  and  their  Allies  "  is  one  of  these,  and  of  course 
there  are  many  popular  works  of  this  character, 
whose  consideration  hardly  belongs  in  the  present 
work.  If  the  teacher  is  interested  in  other  groups, 
or  wishes  other  information  about  botanical  books, 
he  should  consult  the  Professor  of  Botany  in  the 
nearest  large  university. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

List  of  works  referred  to  in  Chapter  VII  and  elsewhere  in  this 
book.  The  prices  are  from  publishers'  lists,  and  are  usually  sub- 
ject to  discount.  They  are  for  bound  copies.  Care  should  be 
taken  to  secure  always  the  latest  editions. 

Arthur,  J.  C,  Barnes,  C.  R.,  and  Coulter,  J.  C.  Handbook  of  Plant 
Dissection.  New  York.  Henry  Holt  &  Co.  1887.  $1.20. 

Arthur,  J.  C.,  and  MacDougal,  D.  T.  Living  Plants  and  their 
Properties.  New  York.  Baker  &  Taylor.  1898.  $1.25. 

Asa  Gray  Bulletin.  Bi-monthly.  Washington,  D.C.  50  cents  a 
year. 

Atkinson,  G.  F. 

(1)  Elementary  Botany.    New  York.    Henry  Holt  &  Co.    1898. 

$1.25. 

(2)  The  Study  of  the  Biology  of  Ferns  by  the  Collodion  Method. 

New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1894.  '  $2.00. 


138  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Bailey,  L.  H. 

(1)  The  Survival  of  the  Unlike.     New  York.     The  Macmillan 

Co.     1897.     $2.00. 

(2)  Lessons  with  Plants.     New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

1898.     $1.10. 

(3)  Garden  Making.    New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1898. 

$1.00. 
Bailey,  W.  W.      Botanical  Collector's  Hand-book.      Salem,  Mass. 

George  A.  Bates.     1881.     $1.50.     A  new  edition  is  promised. 
Barnes,  C.  R.      Plant  Life,  considered  with  Special  Reference  to 

Form  and  Function.  New  York.  Henry  Holt  &  Co.   1898.  $1.12. 
Bates,  H.  M.     The  Naturalist  on  the  Amazons.     London.     John 

Murray.     1892.     iSs. 

Beal,  W.  J.    Seed  Dispersal.   Boston.   Ginn  &  Co.    1899.   40  cents. 
Belt,  T.     The  Naturalist   in   Nicaragua.      London.     E.  Bumpus. 

7s.  6d. 
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and  later.     $1.20. 
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(1)  Botany  for    High    Schools   and   Colleges.      New  York. 

Henry  Holt  &  Co.     1885  and  later  editions.     $2.20. 

(2)  The  Essentials  of  Botany.    New  York.    Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

1896.     $1.08. 
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$4.00  a  year. 
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United   States,  Canada,  etc.     New  York.     Charles  Scribner's 

Sons.     3  vols.     1896-1898.     $3.00  a  volume. 
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$2.00  a  year. 
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(1)  The  Structure  and  Development  of  the  Mosses  and  Ferns. 

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Macmillan  Co .     1 899 .     $1.25. 
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York.     American  Book  Co.     1898.     96  cents. 


BOTANICAL  BOOKS   AND  THEIR  USE  139 

Coulter,  J.  M.  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Region.  New  York.  American  Book  Co.  1885.  $1.62. 

Curtis,  C.  C.  Text-book  of  General  Botany.  New  York.  Long- 
mans, Green,  &  Co.  1897.  $3.00. 

Darwin,  Charles. 

(1)  The  Origin  of  Species.     1885.     Sixth  edition.     $2.00. 

(2)  The  Power  of  Movement  in  Plants.     $2.00. 

(3)  Insectivorous  Plants.     $2.00. 

(4)  Movements  and  Habits  of  Climbing  Plants.     $1.25. 

(5)  The  Various  Contrivances  by  which  Orchids  are  fertilized 

by  Insects.     $1.75. 

(6)'  The  Effects  of  Cross  and  Self  Fertilization  in  the  Vegetable 
Kingdom.     $2.00. 

(7)  Different  Forms  of  Flowers  on  Plants  of  the  same  Species. 

$1.50.     All  published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.     New  York. 

Darwin,  F.,  and  Acton,  E.  H.      Practical  Physiology  of  Plants. 

Cambridge.     Second  edition.     1897.    4^.  6d. 
De  Bary,   A.      Translated    by    Bower    and    Scott.      Comparative 

Anatomy  of  the  Vegetative  Organs  of  Phanerogams  and  Ferns. 

Oxford.     The  Clarendon  Press.     1884.     $5.50. 
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New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1898.     $3.00. 
Eaton,  D.  C.     The  Ferns  of  North  America.     Boston.     Bradlee 

Whidden.     1893.     2  vols.     $20.00  per  volume. 
Eliot,  C.  W.     Educational  Reform.     New  York.     The  Century  Co. 

1898.      $2.00. 

Engler  &  Prantl.  Die  natuerlichen  Pflanzenfamilien.  Leipzig. 
W.  Engelmann.  Now  appearing  in  parts.  12  volumes  are 
complete. 

Forbes,  H.  O.  Wanderings  of  a  Naturalist  in  the  Eastern  Archi- 
pelago. London.  Sampson,  Low  &  Co.  1885.  2is. 

Geddes,  P.  Chapters  in  Modern  Botany.  New  York.  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons.  1893.  $1.25. 

Goebel,  K. 

(1)  Translated  by  Garnsey  and  Balfour.     Outlines  of  Classi- 

fication  and   Special   Morphology   of  Plants.     Oxford. 
Clarendon  Press.     1887.     $5.25. 

(2)  Organographie    der    Pflanzen.      Jena.      Gustav    Fischer. 

Now  appearing  in  parts. 


140  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

Goodale,  G.  L.  Physiological  Botany.  Vol.  II  of  Gray's  Botan- 
ical Text-book.  New  York.  American  Book  Co.  1885. 
$2.00. 

Gray,  Asa. 

(1)  Scientific  Writings.     Edited  by  C.  S.  Sargent.     Boston. 

Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.     2  volumes.     1889.     $6.00. 

(2)  Structural  Botany.     Part  I  of  Gray's  Botanical  Text-book. 

New  York.     American  Book  Co.     1880.     $2.00. 

(3)  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the   Northern  United   States. 

Sixth  edition.     New  York.     American  Book  Co.     1890. 
$1.62.     Field  edition, '$2.00. 

(4)  Elements  of  Botany.     New  York.     American  Book  Co. 

1887  and  later  editions.     94  cents. 

(5)  Field,  Forest,  and  Garden  Botany.    Revised  by  L.  H.  Bailey. 

New  York.     American  Book  Co.     1895.     $1.44. 

(6)  How  Plants  Behave.     New  York.     American   Book  Co. 

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(1)  Eine  botanische  Tropenreise.     Leipzig.    W.  Engelmann. 

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(2)  Physiologische   Pflanzenanatomie.     Leipzig.     W.    Engel- 

mann.    1896.     1 8  marks. 

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(1)  The  Naturalist  in  La  Plata.     London.     Chapman  &  Hall. 

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Huxley,  T.  H.,  and  Martin,  H.  N.  A  Course  of  Elementary  Instruc- 
tion in  Practical  Biology.  London.  The  Macmillan  Co.  1886. 
ioj.  6d. 

Kerner  von  Marilaun,  A.  Translated  by  Oliver.  The  Natural 
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1894-1896.  $15.00. 


BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND  THEIR  USE  141 

Knuth,  K.     Handbuch  der  Bliitenbiologie.     Leipzig.     W.  Engel- 

mann.     1898.     2  volumes.     28  marks. 
Lubbock,   Sir  J.     Flowers,  Fruits,  and   Leaves.     London.     The 

Macmillan  Co.     1884.     4^.  6d. 
Ludvvig,   F.      Lehrbuch    der   Biologic    der    Pflanzen.      Stuttgart. 

F.  Enke.     1895.     14  marks,  unbound. 
MacDougal,  D.  T.     Experimental  Plant  Physiology.     New  York. 

Henry  Holt  &  Co.     1895.     $1.00. 
Muller,  H.    Translated  by  Thompson.    The  Fertilisation  of  Flowers. 

London.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1893.     2is. 
Newell,  Jane  H.     Outlines  of  Lessons  in  Botany.     Parts  I  and  II, 

with  Readers,  Parts  I  and  II.     Boston.     Ginn  &  Co.     1892. 

Outlines,  90  cents  each  ;  Readers,  70  cents  each. 
Pfeffer,    W.       Pflanzenphysiologie.       I.    Stoffwechsel.       Leipzig. 

W.  Engelmann.     1897.     23   marks.     An   English   translation 

is  being  prepared. 

Plant  World,  The.     Monthly.     Binghampton,  N.Y.     $i.ooayear. 
Rhodora.    Monthly.    New  England  Botanical  Club.    Boston.    $1.00 

a  year. 
Sachs,J. 

(1)  Translated  by  Garnsey  and  Balfour.     History  of  Botany. 

New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1890.     $2.50. 

(2)  Lectures   on  the   Physiology  of  Plants.     Translated  by 

Ward.    Oxford.    Clarendon  Press.    1887.    (Now  out  of 
print.) 
Sargent,  C.  S.    The  Silva  of  North  America.    12  volumes.    Boston. 

Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.     1892-1899.     $25.00  a  volume. 
Sargent,  F.  L.     Corn  Plants.     Boston.     Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

1899.     75  cents. 
Schimper,    A.    F.    W.       Pflanzengeographie    auf   physiologischer 

Grundlage.  Jena.  Gustav  Fischer.  1899.  27  marks,  unbound. 
Science.  Weekly.  New  York.  The  Macmillan  Co.  $5.00  a  year. 
Setchell,  W.  A.  Laboratory  Practice  for  Beginners  in  Botany. 

New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1897.     90  cents. 
Sorauer,  P.     Translated   by  Weiss.     A  Popular  Treatise   on   the 

Physiology   of  Plants.     London.      Longmans,   Green,  &  Co. 

1895.     gs. 
Spalding,  V.  M.     Guide  to  the  Study  of  Common  Plants.     Boston. 

D,  C,  Heath  &  Co.     1895.    90  cents, 


142  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

Strasburger,  E. 

(1)  Das  botanische  Prac.ticum.    Jena.    Gustav  Fischer.     1897.' 

22.50  marks. 

(2)  Das  kleine  botanische  Praktikum.     Third  edition.     Jena. 

Gustav  Fischer.     1897.     7  marks. 

The  second  edition  of  the  latter  is  translated  by  Hill- 
house  as  Practical  Botany.  New  York.  The  Macmillan 
Co.  1897.  $2.50.  New  edition  promised. 

Strasburger,  E.,  Noll,  F.,  Schenck.  H.,  Schimper,  A.  F.  W.     Trans- 
lated by  Porter.     A  Text-book  of  Botany.     New  York.     The 
Macmillan  Co.     1898.     $4.50.      In  four  sections,  and  Sections 
I  and  II  may  be  had  together  without  III  and  IV.     $2.50. 
Underwood,  L.  M.     Our  Native   Ferns    and    their   Allies.     New 
York.      Henry   Holt    &   Co.      1888.      $1.25.      New    edition 
promised. 
Vines,  S.  H. 

(1)  An  Elementary  Text-book  of  Botany.     New  York.     The 

Macmillan  Co.     1898.     $2.25. 

(2)  Lectures  on  the  Physiology  of  Plants.     Cambridge.  Uni- 

versity Press.     1886.     2is. 
Wallace,  A.  R.    Malay  Archipelago.    London.    The  Macmillan  Co. 

1891.     6s. 
Warming,  E. 

(1)  Translated  by  Potter.    A  Hand-book  of  Systematic  Botany. 

New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1895.     $3.75. 

(2)  Translated   into  German   by  Knoblauch.     Lehrbuch   der 

Oekologischen  Pflanzengeographie.    Berlin.   Geb.  Born- 
traeger.     1896.     8  marks. 

Wiesner,  J.     Biologic  der  Pflanzen.     Vienna.     1889.     A  new  edi- 
tion is  in  preparation. 


VIII.     ON  SOME  COMMON   ERRORS   PREJU- 
DICIAL TO  GOOD  BOTANICAL  TEACHING 

ONE  of  the  chief  obstacles  to  the  advancement  of 
knowledge  is  the  difficulty  of  securing  the  introduction 
of  the  results  of  new  researches  into  general  circula- 
tion. Errors  once  in  possession  of  the  field,  especially 
if  backed  by  the  authority  of  some  great  name,  persist 
long  after  they  are  disproven,  particularly  when  easier 
to  understand,  or  pleasanter  to  believe  than  the  newer 
truths.  I  shall  here  point  out  some  of  the  more  preva- 
lent errors  in  Botany,  not  including  cases  still  in  doubt, 
but  only  those  on  which  competent  authorities  agree. 

Very  widely  spread  is  one  popular  error  about  Bot- 
any ;  namely,  that  it  is  synonymous  with  the  study  of 
flowers,  and  hence  of  no  great  value  except  as  an 
accomplishment  of  fashionable  boarding-schools  or  an 
appropriate  hobby  for  elderly  persons  of  leisure.  This 
belief  is  a  natural  one,  for  until  lately  it  has  consisted 
in  this  country  largely  in  the  study  of  flowers,  and  still 
does  to  far  too  great  an  extent.  We  cannot  expect 
the  error  to  be  corrected  until  botanical  courses  gener- 
ally represent  the  real  condition  of  the  science. 

Another  error,  prevalent  even  among  college  teachers, 
is,  that  Botany  cannot  be  taught  as  a  science  in  the 


144  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

high  schools  because  high  school  students  are  not 
mature  enough,  and  cannot  think.  It  is  true  that  many 
of  them  do  not  think,  but  this  is  because  their  think- 
ing powers  are  aborted  by  disuse  or  crushed  to  earth  by 
the  weight  of  incessant  memory  work.  But  experience 
shows  that,  given  a  fair  chance,  high  school  students 
can  think,  and  are  fully  able  to  profit  by  even  the  most 
scientific  treatment  of  the  subject. 

These,  however,  are  but  minor  errors,  though  it  is  well 
for  the  teacher  to  be  on  the  watch  for  them,  and  to 
attack  them  whenever  they  appear.  More  serious  are 
the  errors  of  botanical  fact  and  theory  current  among 
teachers  themselves.  Thus,  morphology,  as  commonly 
taught  in  our  schools,  is  dominated  by  a  rigid  formal- 
ism, an  inheritance  from  the  idealistic  system  of  Goethe, 
which  implies  modification  within  the  limits  of  some 
distinct  plan  rather  than  modification  in  adaptation  to 
conditions  as  they  exist.  It  is  commonly  taught  that 
the  higher  plant  consists  of  root,  stem,  and  leaf  (with, 
perhaps,  also  "  plant  hair  "),  and  that  every  part  of  it 
is  composed  of  some  one  or  more  of  these,  which,  like 
the  chemical  elements,  may  be  variously  combined  and 
united,  but  retain  their  identity  through  it  all.  This 
view  is  a  natural  one  where  evidence  is  drawn  from 
comparative  anatomy  alone,  and  most  of  those  who 
have  held  it  have  been  students  in  that  line  and  not  in 
embryology.  It  is  a  very  poor  working  hypothesis,  for 
it  leads  always  to  a  blank  wall  blocking  further  prog- 


SOME  COMMON  BOTANICAL  ERRORS  145 

ress,  and  to  inconsistencies  requiring  the  most  artful 
dodging.  The  central  point  in  this  doctrine  is  the 
belief  in  the  comparative  immutability  of  the  nature  of 
the  plant  members  or  elements.  All  modern  research, 
however,  is  denying  this  belief  and  replacing  it  by  the 
opposite  principle,  viz.  that  difference  of  degree  of  de- 
velopment passes  over  into  difference  of  kind  of  struc- 
ture, thus  leading  to  the  formation  of  new  elements 
or  members  which  become  centres  of  variation,  modifi- 
cation, adaptation  upon  their  own  account,  and  more  or 
less  independently  of  their  original  nature.  Thus  the 
ovary  is  composed  of  carpels,  which  originally  were 
spore-bearing  leaves.  Now,  when  an  ovary  must  vary 
adaptively  to  some  new  influence,  it  does  not  need  to  go 
back  to  consult  the  rules  governing  its  behavior  when  it 
was  a  set  of  sporophylls,  but  it  responds  as  a  unit,  as 
an  ovary;  it  has  itself  become  a  member  or  element. 
It  is  always  necessary  in  morphology  to  keep  plain  the 
difference  between  historical  origin  and  present  nature. 
Historically,  an  American  is  an  Englishman,  but  he 
does  not  on  that  account  now  act  or  think  as  an  Eng- 
lishman ;  he  has  a  new  character,  he  is  an  American. 
So,  historically,  the  ovary  is  a  set  of  leaves ;  but  it  does 
not  act  like  a  set  of  leaves,  but  like  what  it  now  is,  an 
ovary.  The  placenta  is  another  good  example  of  this. 
Generally  it  is  said  to  represent  the  united  edges 
of  infolded  carpellary  leaves,  but  one  has  to  perform 
complicated  mental  gymnastics  to  interpret  all  placentae 


146  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

in  this  way.  The  real  explanation  doubtless  is,  that, 
although  the  placenta  did  thus  originate,  it  has  attained 
to  independent  dignity  as  a  morphological  element,  and 
proceeds  to  act  as  a  unit,  varying  and  adapting  itself 
to  its  conditions,  largely  independently  of  its  original 
nature.  Of  course  there  are  all  degrees  of  this  inde- 
pendence of  original  nature ;  and  while  some  structures 
have  broken  away  entirely  from  it,  others  are  more  or 
less  bound  by  it;  but  the  recognition  of  the  principle, 
really  the  fundamental  principle  of  modern  morphol- 
ogy, is  very  important.  Formalism  in  morphology, 
based  upon  comparative  anatomy,  must  be  modified  by 
realism  based  upon  embryology.  Unfortunately  there 
is  as  yet  no  authoritative  work  in  English  treating  fully 
this  subject. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  current  morphological 
errors  is  that  which  attempts  to  homologize  ovules  and 
pollen  with  something  on  the  green  shoot.  It  is  often 
taught  that  the  ovule  represents  an  altered  piece  of  the 
edge,  perhaps  a  tooth,  of  the  leaf,  while  the  pollen  is  the 
parenchyma  with  epidermis  rounded  out  to  form  the 
anther.  It  is,  however,  now  known  beyond  any  doubt 
that  the  ovule  (strictly,  its  nucellus)  is  a  spore-case,  a 
lineal  descendant  of  the  spore-cases  of  liverworts,  and 
hence  is  much  older  than  the  differentiation  of  the  parts 
of  the  leafy  shoot ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  pollen  and 
anther,  which  represent  also  ancient  spores  and  spore- 
cases.  Hence  the  pollen  and  ovules  are  not  modified 


SOME  COMMON  BOTANICAL   ERRORS  147 

parts  of  a  vegetative  shoot,  but  independent  structures 
of  long  ancestry  and  independent  dignity. 

Another  common  error  is  that  of  attempting  to  ho- 
mologize  the  parts  of  the  stamen  and  of  the  carpel  with 
the  parts  of  the  green  leaf.  Thus,  it  is  often  said  that 
the  filament  represents  the  petiole,  and  the  anther  the 
blade ;  while  in  the  carpels  the  ovary  wall  is  said 
to  be  the  blade,  the  style  the  elongated  tip,  and  the 
stigma  the  extreme  end  turned  back ;  and  much  mental 
ingenuity  is  needed  to  show  how  some  of  the  more 
specialized  styles  and  stigmas  fit  into  this  scheme.  In 
fact,  while  .the  precise  origin  of  the  stamens  and  carpels 
is  not  beyond  doubt,  this  much  is  certain,  that  they  are 
the  descendants  of  the  sporophylls  of  cryptogamic 
plants,  and  there  is  a  very  strong  probability  that  these 
sporophylls  never  have  been  green  foliage  leaves ;  and 
even  if  they  were,  it  was  at  a  time  before  the  differ- 
entiation of  the  modern  specialized  foliage  leaf  with  its 
blade,  petiole,  and  stipules.  It  is,  therefore,  correct  to 
regard  carpels  and  stamens  as  morphologically  leaves ; 
but  they  must  be  viewed  as  having  followed  a  course 
independent  of  that  of  foliage  leaves,  each  developing 
the  parts  necessary  to  its  function  without  any  regard 
to  the  developments  of  the  other.  Hence  it  is  not 
possible  to  homologize  the  parts  of  one  with  the  parts 
of  the  other. 

Another  very  common  error,  perpetuated  by  its  use  in 
all  systematic  works,  is,  that  inferior  ovaries  represent 


148  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

united  carpels  and  calyx.  Nothing  could  be  more  thor- 
oughly disproved,  or  is  more  easy  to  disprove  by  embryo- 
logical  study  than  this.  Embryology  shows  that,  in  the 
great  majority  of  cases  at  least,  the  inferior  ovary  is 
simply  a  receptacle  which  has  grown  up  into  a  cup,  carry- 
ing all  the  other  parts  upon  its  top,  the  carpels  coming 
finally  to  form  simply  a  roof  over  the  cavity  of  the 
ovary  (as  shown  in  Fig.  28).  This  fact  at  once  dis- 
poses of  many  of  the  inconsistencies  inseparable  from 
the  "  calyx-adnate  "  theory.  Again,  where  a  calyx-  or 
corolla-  or  perianth-tube  is  formed,  it  is  usual  to  consider 
that  this  tube  consists  of  united  sepals,  petals,  etc.,  but 
it  is  probable  that  only  the  free  parts  or  teeth  of  the 
corolla  or  calyx  represent  the  original  distinct  petals  or 
sepals,  while  the  tube  is  a  band  of  leaf  tissue  that  grows 
up  as  a  ring  leaf,  bearing  the  separate  leaves  on  its  top ; 
it  is  thus  a  new  structure  and  not  the  united  bases  of 
the  old  perianth  parts. 

There  are  also  some  minor  errors  current,  of  which 
the  following  are  most  important :  First,  it  is  usually 
supposed  that  root,  stem,  and  leaf  of  the  higher  plant 
are  members  of  equivalent  worth.  In  fact,  this  is  not 
the  case,  for  root  is  in  every  way  much  more  distinct 
from  stem  and  leaf  than  these  are  from  one  another. 
The  best  division  then  is  into  root  and  shoot,  with  the 
latter  differentiating  into  leaf  and  stem.  Another  error 
is,  that  the  higher  plant  is  made  up  of  certain  elemental 
parts  called  phytomera,  each  of  which  is  composed  of  a 


SOME  COMMON  BOTANICAL  ERRORS  149 

joint  of  stem  and  one  or  more  leaves.  The  support  for 
this  idea  is  found  partly  in  the  jointed  appearance  of 
marly  plants  like  grasses,  and  partly  in  the  fact  that  the 
so-called  phytomer  is  usually  the  smallest  part  of  a 
plant  that  will  grow.  The  latter,  however,  is  a  purely 
physiological  phenomenon  of  no  morphological  signifi- 
cance;  a  piece  of  stem  can  usually  put  out  roots,  and 
some  leaf  surface  is  necessary  to  make  food  to  enable 
the  plant  to  continue  to  grow.  The  jointed  appearance 
is  purely  incidental;  the  nodes  are  the  places  where  the 
fibrovascular  bundles  branch  to  run  out  into  the  leaves 
and  to  unite  with  one  another,  and  hence  the  node  and 
its  accompanying  internode  have  simply  an  anatomical 
and  not  a  morphological  meaning.  Embryology  shows 
that  the  plant,  so  far  from  being  made  by  a  series  of 
phytomera  growing  one  out  of  another,  is  made  by 
continuously  growing  vegetative  points,  throwing  off 
laterally  certain  superficial  portions  which  become 
leaves,  in  whose  axils  the  points  branch. 

The  true  morphological  relationships  of  the  parts  of 
the  higher  plants  are  expressed  in  the  following  table :  — 
Root 


f  Stem , 

f  Blade 


Shoot 


[Leaf 


Foliage  j  Petiole 
I  Stipules 
Floral  Petals  and  Sepals 


Sporophylls  (  Macrosporophylls  (Carpels) .     F 

I  Microsporophylls  (Stamens). 

Sporangia  (containing  f  Macrosporangia  (Ovules)  .  . 

Spores)  1  Microsporangia  (Anthers) .  .  ) 


The 


150  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

Among  errors  very  dear  to  us  is  the  belief  that 
monstrosities  are  reversions  to  an  earlier  condition,  and 
hence  good  guides  to  the  past  history  of  organs  or 
species.  It  is  true  they  may  be,  and  of  course  often 
are ;  but  they  so  frequently  are  not  that  great  caution 
must  be  exercised  in  using  them  as  guides  to  phylogeny. 
If  the  turning  of  a  petal  green  is  taken  to  prove  that 
the  petal  was  once  a  foliage  leaf,  then  the  turning  red 
or  yellow  of  the  leaf  under  the  flower  of  a  tulip  must  be 
taken  to  prove  that  this  leaf  was  once  a  petal,  which  is, 
of  course,  not  to  be  believed  ;  hence  the  turning  green  of 
petals  means  nothing  more  than  a  disturbance  of  nutri- 
tion conditions.  This  principle  applies  to  the  cases 
where  carpels  become  leaves  and  the  ovules  leaf-like 
bodies,  which  need  not  mean  that  these  were  once  of  a 
green  leaf  nature,  but  only  that  the  plant  has  for  some 
reason  unknown  made  its  materials  build  green  leaf 
tissue  instead  of  carpellary  tissue  at  that  place. 

Very  common  and  serious  are  physiological  errors,  of 
which  perhaps  the  most  widespread  is  the  belief  that 
animals  and  plants  are  the  exact  opposites  of  each 
another  with  reference  to  the  taking  in  and  giving  off 
of  the  two  very  important  gases,  carbon  dioxide  and 
oxygen.  In  a  general  way  this  is  true,  but  not  in  the 
sense  in  which  it  is  usually  meant.  In  fact,  in  all  of 
their  processes  of  growth,  movements,  etc.,  animals  and 
plants  behave  precisely  alike  with  reference  to  these  two 
gases,  in  both  cases  taking  in  oxygen  and  giving  out 


SOME  COMMON  BOTANICAL  ERRORS  151 

carbon  dioxide.  But  it  happens  that  green  plants  have 
an  additional  power,  utterly  lacking  in  animals,  to  form 
their  food  from  certain  gases,  minerals,  and  water,  and 
in  this  process  (photosynthesis,  or  assimilation)  carbon 
dioxide  is  absorbed  and  oxygen  is  given  off.  In  green 
plants,  in  bright  light,  this  process  is  so  very  much 
more  active  than  the  process  of  respiration,  that  the 
plant  as  a  whole  does  give  off  much  more  oxygen  than 
carbon  dioxide,  but  in  darkness  the  food-making  stops, 
and  the  plant  gives  off  carbon  dioxide  only  precisely  as 
animals  do.  It  is  therefore  only  in  virtue  of  their 
possession  of  this  single  extra  power  that  plants  reverse 
the  process  of  animals;  in  nearly  all  others  of  their 
important  vital  actions  they  behave  like  them. 

Much  misunderstood  is  the  nature  of  plant  food.  It 
is  generally  taught  that  plant  food  consists  of  carbon 
dioxide,  minerals,  and  water.  If  by  food  one  means 
anything  taken  into  the  organism,  this  is  correct ;  but 
if  by  that  term  one  means  the  substance  out  of  which 
the  organism  builds  up  new  tissues,  repairs  waste,  and 
obtains  energy  for  its  own  vital  work,  then  this  is  in- 
correct. In  reality  the  plant  has  the  power,  lacking  in 
animals,  of  absorbing  the  carbon  dioxide,  water,  and 
minerals,  and  of  making  from  these  starch  or  a  related 
substance;  and  this  starch  is  then  used  as  food  in 
essentially  the  same  manner  as  animals  use  it.  It  may 
be  said,  then,  that  plants  form  their  food  from  the  raw 
materials,  which  properly  are  not  food  at  all.  Of 


152  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

course  animals  are  entirely  dependent  for  their  food 
upon  that  made  by  plants. 

Another  error  is  the  assumption  that  the  carrying 
of  pollen  from  flower  to  flower  by  insects  is  a  part  of 
the  process  of  reproduction,  and  this  is  intensified  by 
the  common  expression  of  "  cross-fertilization  "  used  to 
describe  the  process.  But  really  this  process  has 
nothing  directly  to  do  with  the  act  of  fertilization,  but 
it  is  simply  one  of  the  methods  the  plant  has  adopted 
to  overcome  the  difficulties  imposed  by  the  sessile  habit ; 
that  is,  it  is  the  mode  of  locomotion  of  the  male  to  the 
female  element,  and  is  much  better  described  as  pollen- 
locomotion  or  cross-pollination. 

When  one  studies  the  phenomena  of  irritability,  he 
usually  passes  through  a  stage  in  which  he  believes  that 
plants  possess  a  certain  intelligence.  The  more  careful 
study  of  the  phenomena,  however,  leads  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  it  is  not  intelligence  they  possess,  though  they 
have  a  power  producing  some  apparently  similar  results. 
Irritability  is  more  nearly  comparable  with  reflex  action, 
and  even  with  instinct  in  animals,  than  with  their  con- 
sciousness and  intelligence.  It  may  be  said  that,  out  of 
one  and  the  same  property  in  the  original  protoplasm, 
animals  have  differentiated  reflex  action,  instinct,  and 
intelligence,  while  plants  have  developed  irritability. 

It  is  only  by  keeping  in  touch  with  the  most  modern 
and  authoritative  books  that  the  teacher  can  correct  the 
older  errors. 


PART    II 

AN  OUTLINE  FOR  A  SYNTHETIC  ELEMEN- 
TARY COURSE  IN  THE  SCIENCE 
OF  BOTANY 


INTRODUCTION   TO    PART   II 

THE  principles  that  have  controlled  the  construc- 
tion of  these  outlines  have  been  set  forth  fully  in  the 
preceding  chapters,  and  in  synopsis  are .  as  follows : 
The  ideal  is  to  guide  the  student  to  the  optimum 
return  of  sound  scientific  training  and  thorough  bo- 
tanical knowledge  for  the  time  and  strength  he  can 
put  into  the  work.  They  are  hence  a  study  in  edu- 
cational economy,  with  three  principal  phases:  first, 
the  selection  of  the  most  vital  and  illuminating  top- 
ics ;  second,  a  synthetic  treatment  of  the  science, 
with  topics  arranged  in  such  an  order  as  to  throw 
most  light  upon  one  another ;  third,  the  presentation 
of  the  topics  in  such  a  form  as  to  draw  out  the  stu- 
dent's faculties  the  most  quickly  and  thoroughly. 
They  have  not  been  worked  out  regardless  of  prac- 
tical considerations,  but  with  constant  account  of  them, 
and  with  special  effort  to  show  how  the  restraints 
imposed  by  them  may  be  minimized. 

The  general  plan  of  the  entire  course  is  the  double 
one  used  by  many  teachers:  a  first  division  treats 
of  the  principles  of  anatomy,-  morphology,  physiol- 
ogy, ecology ;  and  a  second,  of  the  structure  and 

J55 


156  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

adaptations   of   the   principal   groups   of   plants    from 
the  lowest  Algae  to  the  higher  Phanerogams. 

In  Division  I  a  beginning  is  made  with  large,  sim- 
ple, somewhat  familiar  objects,  requiring  no  tools, 
but  only  the  undivided  attention  of  eye  and  thought. 
It  is  sought  first  to  form  the  scientific  instinct,  —  the 
habit  of  observation,  comparison,  and  experiment. 
Later,  the  simpler  tools  are  gradually  introduced,  and 
the  less  familiar  materials  and  topics.  Experiments, 
arranged  to  be  tried  with  apparatus  as  simple  and 
inexpensive  as  possible,  are  introduced  along  with 
the  particular  structures  they  throw  most  light  upon. 
Every  new  topic  is  presented  to  the  student  in  the 
form  of  a  problem  so  arranged  as  to  be  solved 
through  proper  inductive  processes  by  his  own 
efforts.  Practically,  they  form  a  series  of  original 
investigations.  These  problems  are  introduced  by 
questions  asked  in  a  form  to  direct  attention  to  the 
leading  facts  and  phases  of  the  subject.  Indeed,  the 
form  of  the  questions  is  one  of  the  most  important 
features  of  such  outlines  as  these,  for  they  may  be 
made  to  dissipate  or  to  conserve  energy,  and  are  the 
chief  means  at  command  of  the  teacher  for  direct- 
ing observation  and  comparison  along  the  most  use- 
ful lines.  It  is  by  no  means  only  the  easiest  or  most 
familiar  topics  and  experiments  which  are  here  rec- 
ommended, but  a  direct  attack  has  been  made  upon 
the  most  fundamental  and  important, 


INTRODUCTION  TO  PART  II  157 

Since  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  a  proper 
conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  modern  science 
that  the  student's  introduction  to  it  should  be  through 
the  study  of  plants  alive  and  at  work,  and  since,  in 
our  climate  and  especially  in  city  schools,  much  ac- , 
curate  field  work  is  impracticable,  the  tracing  of  some 
living  plant  through  its  life  cycle  forms  the  best  be- 
ginning known  to  me.  Since  plants  develop  from 
the  seed  with  relative  rapidity,  and  the  phenomena 
of  their  growth,  movements,  etc.,  can  be  readily  seen 
and  experimented  upon,  the  germination  of  the  seed 
affords  the  best  starting-point.  After  a  single  plant 
is  thus  followed  through  its  cycle  from  seed  to  seed, 
the  modifications  of  this  typical  form  in  response  to 
different  habits  are  taken  up,  and  then  the  different 
members  —  leaf,  stem,  root,  flower,  fruit  —  are  studied 
in  detail  as  to  functions,  structure,  and  ecological 
modifications.  Practically,  most  general  botanical 
principles  may  be  worked  out  best  in  the  higher 
plants,  because  these  are  larger,  more  familiar,  and 
easier  to  obtain. 

In  Division  II,  living  plants  which  may  be  studied 
alive,  and  even  seen  in  their  native  haunts,  with 
attention  called  to  their  habits,  are  used  in  almost 
every  instance.  With  the  knowledge  and  training  ac- 
quired in  Division  I,  the  students  work  through  this 
second  division-  with  great  profit,  and  it  is  by  no 
means  inferior  in  value  to  the  former.  Here  the 


158        .  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

lower,  or  cryptogamic,  plants  receive  their  proper  at- 
tention, and  here,  too,  is  the  proper  place  of  classi- 
fication. 

In  using  these  outlines,  it  is  by  no  means  expected 
that  any  teacher  will  try  to  follow  them  exactly ; 
although  at  the  same  time,  in  view  of  the  amount  of 
care,  based  upon  much  trial  and  experiment,  which 
has  brought  them  into  their  present  form,  one  should 
have  good  reasons  for  the  changes  he  makes.  Of 
course  many  practical  considerations  are  likely  to 
make  it  impossible  to  provide  the  exact  materials 
called  for,  or  to  take  up  the  topics  in  precisely  this 
order.  Indeed,  it  is  in  general  very  hard  to  provide 
the  materials  to  fit  any  particular  set  of  outlines,  and 
it  is  much  easier  and  more  logical  to  make  outlines 
to  fit  the  materials.  These  outlines  are  rather  a  se- 
ries of  suggestions,  based  on  considerable  experience, 
representing  useful  selection  and  treatment  of  top- 
ics and  expression  of  problems.  They  may  serve 
as  a  basis  or  as  models  for  the  teacher  in  the  con- 
struction of  new  outlines  of  his  own,  differing  from 
these  little  or  much  as  he  pleases.  Certainly,  I  think, 
a  special  outline  should  be  drawn  up  by  the  teacher 
each  week  to  fit  his  particular  mode  of  teaching, 
the  material  available,  the  state  of  advancement  of 
his  class,  etc.,  and  a  copy  of  this  should  be  placed 
before  each  student  who  is  to  be  held  responsible 
for  the  complete  working  out  of  all  that  is  called  for 


INTRODUCTION  TO   PART  II  159 

upon  it.  Directions  in  some  form  or  other  must  be 
given  the  students  by  the  teacher ;  when  spoken,  some 
students  do  not  hear  them,  others  forget  them,  but 
the  written  outline  keeps  them  before  all.  So  great 
is  the  advantage  of  these  weekly  guides  in  economizing 
the  teacher's  time  and  strength,  and  in  giving  definite- 
ness  and  direction  to  the  student's  work,  that  there  is 
in  my  experience  no  pedagogic  device  of  greater  worth. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  objection  to  them  on  the 
score  of  weakening  the  student's  self-reliance,  and 
when  given  a  proper  form  they  become  a  great  stim- 
ulus to  him.  They  completely  deliver  the  teacher 
from  that  otherwise  familiar  but  awful  question, 
"What  do  you  want  me  to  do  next?" 

The  experiments  here  given  are  such  as  seem  to 
me  indispensable.  Experiments  much  easier  to  try 
are  given  in  various  books,  but  many  of  them  are  on 
comparatively  unimportant  topics ;  and  it  is  worth 
while  to  take  some  extra  trouble  to  illustrate  sub- 
jects so  fundamental  as  those  here  recommended. 

The  entire  course  as  given  in  the  outlines  has  been 
carefully  adjusted  as  to  time,  and  is  worked  out  by 
my  own  students  in  a  college  year,  with  four,  or  some- 
what more,  hours  in  the  laboratory,  one  demonstra- 
tion hour,  and  one  lecture  a  week.  If  but  half,  or  much 
less,  of  this  time  can  be  given,  the  teacher  will  natu- 
rally select  from  the  list  the  more  important  topics. 


DIVISION    I 

THE   PRINCIPLES   OF  THE   SCIENCE  OF 
BOTANY 

I.   The  Anatomy  of  the  Seed 

I.  a.  Study  the  outside  of  the  dry  Lima  Beans;  com- 
pare several  specimens,  and  observe  what  fea- 
tures are  common  to  all  and  what  are  individual ; 
minutely  observe  :  — 

(1)  What  is  the  typical  shape? 

(2)  What  is  the  color  ? 

(3)  What  markings  have  they  ? 
Answer,  as  far  as  possible,  by  drawings  made 

twice  the  natural  size ;  add  notes  to  describe 
features  which  drawing  cannot  express. 
b.    Remove  the  coatings  from  soaked  seeds. 

(1)  What  effect  has  the  soaking  had  upon 

the  markings,  size,  and  shape  ? 

(2)  How  many  coats  are  there  ? 

(3)  Do  the  external   markings  bear  any 

relation  to  the  structures  inside  ? 

(4)  What  shapes  have  the  structures  inside, 

and  how  are  they  connected  with  one 
another  ? 

M  l6l 


1 62  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

Answer  as  before  by  drawings  and   notes,  the 
former  natural  size. 

2.  Study  fully  in  the  same  way  the  Horse  Bean. 

3.  In  a  concise  paragraph  describe  the  resemblances 

and   the   differences    of    the    Lima    and   the 
Horse  Beans. 

Materials.  —  White  Lima  Beans  (Phaseolus  lunatus)  and 
Horse  Beans  (  Vicia  faba  equind} ,  about  six  to  a  student,  may 
be  bought  in  all  large  seed  stores ;  half  should  be  soaked  over 
night.  Windsor  Beans  may  be  used  in  place  of  the  Horse 
Beans,  and  other  kinds  will  do ;  but  those  selected  should  be 
large,  and  such  that  in  one  the  cotyledons  come  above  ground 
in  germination,  and  in  the  other  they  remain  below. 

Pedagogics.  —  This  outline  can  be  completed  by  the  average 
student  in  two  two-hour  periods,  but  three  are  much  better ;  if 
necessary,  Exercise  3  can  be  completed  at  home  from  their 
drawings  and  notes,  but  it  is  better  worked  out  with  the  seeds 
in  hand.  No  tools  except  a  pocket  knife  are  needed,  not  even 
a  lens.  In  a  large  laboratory  division  general  guidance  to  the 
whole  class,  as  well  as  individual  help,  not  too  much  of  either 
at  first,  should  be  given,  as  recommended  in  Chapter  III.  The 
exercises  in  this  outline  are  principally  to  teach  beginners  :  — 

(I)  To  see  a  natural   object   as  it  is,  correctly  and  com- 
pletely. 

(II)  Through  comparison  to  eliminate  accidental  and  indi- 
vidual features,  and  thus  to  distinguish  essential  from  unessen- 
tial characters. 

(III)  To  represent  clearly  to  another  what  is  seen,  for  this 
purpose  using  words  or  drawings  according  as  the  one  or  the 
other  is  the  more  expressive. 

(IV)  A  knowledge  of  the  anatomy  of  some  typical  seeds. 


ANATOMY  OF  THE  SEED  163 

Following  are  points  of  importance  in  the  teaching  of  these 
four  essentials :  — 

(1)  On  Observation.  —  It  is  of  first  importance  that  the  stu- 
dent learn  to  see  natural  facts  absolutely  as  such,  uninfluenced 
by  any  explanation  of  them.     Hence  he  should  be  kept   at 
work  upon  the  Lima  Beans  until  he  has  clearly  seen  (as  shown 
by  his  drawings  and  notes,  and  under  questioning)  which  of 
his  specimens  are  average  or  most  typical ;  what  their  shape 
and  color  is;   the  radiating  markings,  stopping  short   of  the 
edge ;  faint  concentric  markings  (not  always  visible)  ;  on  the 
concave  edge  a  large  scar,  at  one  end  of  which  is  a  tiny  pit, 
and  at  the  other  a  tiny  raised  yellowish  triangle,  which  con- 
tinues into  a  faint  ridge  ending  in  a  more  raised  portion,  the 
latter  making  an  angle  as  seen  from  the  side.     Observation 
consists  not  only  in  seeing  all  these  things,  but  in  seeing  them 
in  their  proper  relative  positions  and  connections.    Names  and 
uses  should  not  be  given  until  after  the  things  have  been  seen, 
some  curiosity  aroused  as  to  their  use,  and  a  need  felt  for 
names  for  them. 

On  removing  the  seed-coat,  the  student  should  see  that  this 
is  single  (actually  two  united,  though  usually  he  cannot  see 
that)  ;  also  the  thick  line  representing  the  ridge  he  saw  out- 
side ;  and  the  lack  of  any  connection  between  exterior  mark- 
ings and  the  structures  inside,  excepting  only  the  position  of 
the  micropyle  over  the  end  of  the  hypocotyl  (not  of  course 
at  first  using  those  terms). 

In  the  embryo  he  should  see  that  hypocotyl  and  epicotyl  are 
united,  one  the  continuation  of  the  other ;  that  the  cotyledons 
are  lateral  growths  of  the  hypocotyl;  and  that  the  plumule 
consists  of  a  short  stalk  bearing  two  folded  veined  leaves,  one 
partially  enclosed  in  the  other. 

(2)  On  Comparison.  —  The  student  should  see  that  some 


164  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

cracks  and  folds  are  simply  due  to  individual  differences  in  the 
mode  of  drying,  etc.,  and  that  shape  and  size  are  variable, 
though  within  limits.  In  his  treatment  of  Exercise  3  he  should 
be  led  to  distinguish  clearly  resemblances  and  differences, 
and  to  describe  them  separately. 

(3)  On  Representation.  —  The  general  principles  of  this 
part  of  the  work  are  discussed  in  Chapter  IV.  Observation 
should  be  fully  made  before  recording  is  begun.  As  to  draw- 
ing, the  students  should  first  be  allowed  to  do  the  best  they 
can  unaided,  judging  for  themselves  how  many  and  what  kind 
of  drawings  are  necessary  to  show  completely  the  seed  and  its 
parts.  They  should  be  made  to  complete  a  subject  the  best 
they  can  before  it  is  examined  or  criticised  by  the  teacher; 
this  is  to  inculcate  self-reliance.  After  they  have  done  their 
very  best,  their  work  should  at  once  be  examined,  and  wherever 
it  shows  marked  deficiencies  they  should  be  encouraged  to 
look  and  try  again.  After  they  have  finally  done  all  they 
can,  the  teacher  should,  step  by  step,  carefully  explaining 
the  logic  of  each  point,  show  them  the  best  way  he  knows  for 
representing  the  objects,  with  which  they  may  compare  their 
own  efforts ;  this  may  well  be  done  for  them  all  together  on  a 
blackboard;  they  are,  after  their  own  trials,  in  a  position  to 
profit  by  all  of  the  advice  thus  given.  A  good  representation 
of  the  Lima  Bean  as  an  example  for  beginners  is  shown  in  Fig. 
12,  though  the  faint  radiating  lines  might  have  been  added. 
But  while  representation  is  made  thus  important,  the  teacher 
must  not  go  so  far  as  to  make  a  fetich  of  it ;  for  after  all  it  is 
but  a  means  to  an  end.  At  first  only  clear  diagrams  should  be 
insisted  upon  —  shading,  etc.,  may  better  come  later.  It  is, 
moreover,  very  important  not  to  insist  upon  too  many  things 
at  once,  as  this  tends  but  to  confusion ;  earlier  exercises  may 
well  be  left  somewhat  incomplete  for  this  reason.  The  descrip- 


ANATOMY  OF  THE  SEED 


I65 


tions  in  words  should  be  studies  in  clearness  and  conciseness ; 
but  perfection  cannot  be  expected  at  the  start.  From  the  first, 
rough  sketches  should  be  forbidden.  Few  drawings'  may  'be 


hilum 


7 -raphe- 


..-ckalcua.- 

FlG.  12.  —  Good  drawing,  by  a  beginner,  of  Lima  Bean,  X  i  J. 

made,  but  in  these  every  line  and  spot  should  have  its  mean- 
ing, and  nothing  admitted  for  which  there  is  not  an  equivalent 
in  the  seed.  Outlines  should  be  firm,  clear,  and  complete,  and 
haziness  not  permitted.  The  drawings  should  not  be  a  com- 
posite made  up  from  several  specimens,  but  an  accurate  draw- 
ing of  a  typical  specimen. 

(4)  On  gaining  Knowledge  of  Seed  Anatomy.  —  Their  obser- 
vation gives  them  the  lead- 
ing  facts  of  seed  structure. 
After  they  have  seen  and 
represented  the  structures, 
the  teacher  should  lead 
them  (using  the  blackboard 


-caulicle -IT          \^ 

\ 

-cotyledons- 


while  showing  them  better   ^ 

ways    of    drawing)     to    ask  FIG.  13.  —  Good  drawing,  by  a  beginner,  of 
what    is   the    use    or    Other         embryo  of  Lima  Bean.    Actual  size. 

meaning  of  each  part ;   and  as  they  have  no  data  for  deter- 
mining any  of  these,  except,  perhaps,  the   hilum,  the   early 


1 66  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

life  and  development  of  the  seed  must  be  briefly  described  to 
them  with  reference  to  the  use  of  each  part.  This  applies  in 
particular  to  the  markings ;  the  use  of  parts  of  the  embryo 
they  will  learn  for  themselves  later.  Along  with  this,  and  after 
making  them  feel  the  need  for  single  terms  to  describe  the 
different  features,  the  proper  names  may  be  given  them  for 
the  parts,  and  these  terms  may  be  the  better  impressed  upon 
them  if  accompanied  by  side  remarks  upon  their  etymology, 
etc.  Of  course  names  and  uses  should  be  carefully  recorded. 
Terms  needed  are  Coats,  Hilum,  Micropyle  (Strophiole,  very 
small  in  bean),  Raphe,  Chalaza,  Embryo,  Cotyledons,  Hypo- 


FIG.  14.  —  Good  drawing,  by  a  beginner,  of  embryo  of  Lima  Bean  laid  open. 
Actual  size. 

cotyl  (or  Caulicle),  Plumule.  (Of  course  the  chalaza  itself  does 
not  appear  in  the  seed,  but  its  position  is  shown  by  a  slight 
projection  or  angle,  which  may  be  called  the  "  chalazal  angle.") 
The  names  may  be  added  as  shown  in  Figs.  12,  13,  14. 

The  teacher  will  do  well  to  work  up  for  himself  the  develop- 
ment of  the  ovule  in  the  Bean,  which  can  very  easily  be  done 
from  String  .Beans  of  different  sizes.  By  a  series  .of  outline 
diagrams  he  can  then  make  clear  to  the  class  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  the  peculiarities  of  form  and  markings  in  the  seed.  This 
would  form  an  excellent  topic  for  investigation  by  some  of  the 
brightest  pupils. 


MORPHOLOGY  OF  THE  SEED  167 

II.   The  Anatomy  and  Morphology  of  the  Seed 

4.  a.    Study  the  outside  of  the  Horse-chestnut  (a  typical 

specimen),  and  minutely  observe  :  —  , 

What    is    its    shape,    its    color,    and    its 

markings  ? 

Does  it  show  any  feature  not  in  the  Beans  ? 
Answer,  as  before,  by  drawings  and  notes.    Select 

for  yourself  the  best  scale. 

b.   Remove  the  coatings  from  a  soaked  seed,  and 
observe :  — 

(1)  How  many  coats  are  there,  and  how 

are  the  markings  related  to  struc- 
tures inside  ? 

(2)  What  shapes  have  the  internal  parts, 

and  how  are  they  connected  with 
one  another? 

(3)  Are  there  any  new  parts  or  features 

not  present  in  those  already  studied  ? 
Answer,  as  before,  by  drawings  and  notes.     Care- 
fully separate  with  the  fingers  all  parts  that 
can  be  forced  apart  without  tearing. 

5.  In  a  similar  way  study  the  seed  of  the  Morning- 

glory. 

6.  In  a  similar  way  study  the  grains  of  Corn. 

Where  parts  cling  too  closely  to  be  separated  by 
the  fingers,  use  a  knife,  and  try  clean  median 
sections. 


1 68  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

7.    a.    In  a  concise  and  tabular  form,  compare  as  to  the 
chief  resemblances  and  differences   the    four 
kinds  of  seed  you  have  studied,  —  the  Bean, 
Horse-chestnut,  Morning-glory,  and  Corn. 
b.    Construct  a  series  of  four  diagrams,  showing  by 
corresponding  colors  the  relative  development 
of  the  equivalent  parts  in  the  four  embryos. 
(Place  this  series  on  the  upper  half  of  one  page, 
and  leave  the  remainder  for  a  related  series 
to  come  later.) 

Materials.  —  The  Horse-chestnuts  should  be  soaked  for  a 
week ;  if  then  the  cotyledons  do  not  separate  readily,  immer- 
sion in  hot  (not  boiling)  water  for  a  few  minutes  will  make 
them.  For  the  purposes  of  this  exercise  it  is  a  most  valuable 
seed,  and  every  effort  should  be  made  to  obtain  it.  Morning- 
glory  seeds,  the  largest  size,  which  may  be  bought  cheaply  by 
the  ounce  in  seed  stores,  should  be  soaked  only  four  hours. 
Though  this  seed  is  small,  it  is  hard  to  find  a  larger  one  which 
is  as  instructive.  The  Castor  Bean  (Ridnus)  germinates  badly, 
and  hence  cannot  be  followed  into  its  later  stages,  while  Four- 
o-clock  is  puzzling  through  presence  of  the  fruit.  A  lens  will 
make  the  Morning-glory  sufficiently  clear.  Corn,  soaked  over 
night,  must  be  studied  chiefly  by  sections. 

Pedagogics.  —  This  outline  will  require  at  least  three  two- 
hour  periods,  with  some  outside  work. 

Its  object  is  to  continue  training  in  observation,  and  to  form 
an  introduction  to  morphology.  As  to  observation,  after  their 
previous  experience,  the  students  will  readily  find  in  the  Horse- 
chestnut  everything  on  the  seed-coats,  including  the  fibro-vas- 
cular  bundles  on  the  hilum.  The  coats  are  two  united,  but 


MORPHOLOGY   OF  THE   SEED  169 

will  seem  to  them  as  one.  They  should  see  that  the  hypocotyl 
does  not  lie  against  the  cotyledons  as  in  the  Bean,  but  is  sepa- 
rated from  them  in  part  by  a  seeming  pocket  of  the  coats 
(really  due  to  a  folding  of  the  young  ovule  enclosing  part  of 
the  coats)  ;  and  that  the  seeming  hypocotyl  really  splits  down 
part  of  its  length  and  has  the  plumule  at  the  bottom  of  the 
split.  In  the  Morning-glory  they  should  find  (with  help  of  a 
lens)  micropyle  and  raphe  as  well  as  hilum,  and  the  jelly-like 
endosperm  and  the  two  cotyledons.  In  the  Corn  they  should 
see,  in  addition  to  the  other  parts,  the  remnant  of  the  silk 
(style)  and  the  leaves  of  the  plumule,  on  a  failure  to  see  which 
they  should  be  reminded,  not  simply  to  look  at  things,  but 
also  to  move  and  separate  them. 

Of  the  utmost  importance  in  biology  is  morphology.  Prac- 
tically, it  consists  chiefly  in  recognizing  the  original  nature  of 
parts,  no  matter  how  much  disguised  by  changes  of  size  and 
shape.  Its  best  index  is  the  relative  positions  of  parts.  The 
Horse-chestnut  is  good  to  begin  with,  for  the  student  may  be 
made  to  work  out  for  himself,  by  careful  comparison  with  the 
construction  of  the  embryo  in  the  Bean,  that  what  he  at  first 
always  takes  for  "  hypocotyl  hollowed  out  with  the  plumule  at 
the  bottom,"  is  really  largely  stalks  of  the  cotyledons,  while 
the  hypocotyl  is  only  the  part  below  the  plumule.  In  the 
Morning-glory  he  is  apt  at  first  to  mistake  the  very  leafy  cotyle- 
dons for  plumule,  but  can  be  led  to  work  out  their  true  nature. 
And  in  the  Corn  he  can  thus  discover  that  the  shield-like 
body  is  cotyledon.  (Actually  there  is  some  slight  doubt  on 
this  point  among  experts,  but  it  is  probably  true,  and  can  be 
so  treated,  with  a  caution  to  the  students.)  The  observation 
of  the  remnant  of  the  style  on  the  corn  grain,  and  their  ina- 
bility to  find  any  equivalent  for  it  on  the  other  seeds,  may  be 
used  to  introduce  an  explanation  of  the  composition  of  this 


THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 


grain  as  ovary  united  to  seed ;  and  they  may  be  led  to  notice 
that  the  micropyle  is  not  present,  and  that  the  scar  of  attach- 
ment, while  functionally  a  hilum,  is  not  strictly  so  morpho- 
logically. The  occurrence  of  food  substance  outside  of  the 
embryo  in  Morning-glory  and  Cora  should  be  used  to  make 
them  seek  for  it  in  Beans  and  Horse-chestnut,  and  thus  to 
work  out  the  differences  between  "albuminous"  and  "ex- 
albuminous  "  seeds. 


FIG.  15.  —  Diagrammatic  figures  of  embryos  of  Lima  Bean,  Morning-glory, 
Horse-chestnut,  and  Corn,  shaded  to  show  morphologically  equivalent  parts. 
Diagonal  lines  =  hypocotyl ;  vertical  lines  =  cotyledons ;  dots  =  plumule ; 
circles  =  food  substance. 

Of  the  greatest  morphological  value  is  the  Exercise  7  (b), 
which  is  one  of  the  best  I  have  ever  tried  for  inculcating  a 
true  idea  of  morphology,  the  more  especially  when  combined 
with  similar  diagrams  of  germinated  stages  of  the  same  seeds. 
In  making  these  diagrams  all  unessentials  should  be  omitted, 
and  an  effort  made  to  represent  only  the  principal  correspond- 
ing parts  placed  in  corresponding  positions.  The  diagrams 
should  be  somewhat  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  15,  except  that  the 
equivalent  parts  can  be  brought  out  much  better  by  colored 


MORPHOLOGY  OF  THE   SEED  I /I 

crayon's  than  by  the  black  and  white  lines  here  made  neces- 
sary by  the  method  of  engraving.  The  food  substance  may- 
be represented  by  small  circles  of  blue,  or  of  some  other  color. 

In  7  (a)  they  should  not  run  to  details  of  little  importance, 
and  resemblances  should  be  emphasized  as  well  as  differences. 

About  this  time  a  tendency  will  manifest  itself  to  turn  the 
precious  laboratory  hours  into  a  drawing  lesson ;  this  must  be 
firmly  met  by  making  it  plain  that  the  laboratory  time  is  for 
observation  and  essentials  of  recording,  and  that  all  niceties 
must  be  added  in  outside  time,  though  rapid  workers  may 
naturally  be  permitted  some  liberty  in  this  respect. 

No  new  terms  are  needed  except  endosperm  and  albumen, 
the  latter  only  in  connection  with  the  compounds  "albumi- 
nous "  and  " ex-albuminous"  It  is  best  not  to  give  at  all  any 
terms  of  very  limited  application,  such  as  "  scutellum."  As  to 
tools,  a  knife  or  scalpel  may  be  used  for  sectioning,  and  a  lens 
for  the  Morning-glory  (after  they  have  tried  to  work  without 
it).  Tools  and  terms  should  be  given  only  after  students  have 
been  made  to  feel  the  need  for  them. 

While  the  subject  of  the  structure  of  the  seed  is  fresh  in 
memory  it  will  be  well  for  them  to  read  the  very  fine  chapter 
on  this  subject  in  either  of  Dr.  Gray's  text-books.  Many 
additional  exercises  on  seeds  are  outlined  in  Spalding's  and  in 
Setchell's  books ;  and  if  other  materials  for  the  next  following 
exercises  are  wanting,  or  some  students  manifest  a  special 
interest  in  the  subject,  these  may  well  be  introduced.  But  for 
most  students  it  is  more  profitable  to  pass  on  to  other  subjects 
than  to  spend  additional  time  upon  this.  Considerable  simple 
physiological  experimentation  upon  the  growth  of  seeds  in 
relation  to  temperature,  light,  moisture,  and  oxygen,  is  possible, 
and  described  in  Bergen's  Botany.  Most  of  these  facts  thus 
proved,  however,  are  not  specially  characteristic  of  seeds,  but 


1/2  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

apply  to  other  stages  of  growth  as  well.  A  study  of  the  storage 
of  nourishment  in  seeds  is  important,  a  subject  well  treated  in 
Bergen. 

III.   The  Locomotion  of  Seeds 

8.  The   seed    is    the    locomotive   stage   of   the    plant. 

Seeds  have  no  power  of  independent  movement, 
and  hence  can  secure  locomotion  only  through 
being  carried  by  some  of  the  moving  agencies  of 
nature.  To  fit  them  thus  to  be  carried,  adap- 
tively  constructed  appendages  have  been  de- 
veloped. 

a.  What   are  the   different   moving   agencies   of 

nature  which  can  carry  seeds? 

b.  Study   the   ten    seeds    supplied   to    you.      In 

each  case  find  out  and  record :  — 

(1)  What    part    produces    the    special 

appendages  ? 

(2)  To   what   moving   agency    are   the 

appendages  probably  adapted  ? 

(3)  What   accessory  features  of  shape, 

weight,   etc.,   to   aid    the    appen- 
dages,   are    found    in    the    seed 
itself? 
Make  only  outline  sketches  fully  labelled. 

9.  Write  a  concise  essay  (of  not  more  than  two  hun- 

dred and  fifty  words)  upon  the  principles,  deduced 
from  your  laboratory  work,  from  the  lectures,  and 


LOCOMOTION  OF  SEEDS  173 

from  your  reading,  of  the  anatomy,  morphology, 
and  ecology  of  the  seed.  This  is  to  be  handed  in 
(here  the  date). 

Essays  are  to  be  written  in  ink  in  the  Essay  Book 
only.  Each  is  to  be  preceded  by  a  tabular  out- 
line of  its  contents. 

Materials.  —  These  must  chiefly  be  collected  beforehand  in 
the  summer.  Good  ones  are  Maple,  Asclepias,  Agrimony, 
Spruce  or  Pine,  Desmodium,  Ptelea,  Elm,  Xanthium,  Burdock, 
Bidens,  Dandelion,  Tecoma  or  Catalpa,  Galium,  Castor  Bean, 
Geranium  maculatum.  It  is  desirable  to  have,  as  in  this  list, 
some  seeds  and  some  "  fruits."  The  museum  collection,  in- 
cluding some  of  the  more  remarkable  kinds,  will  here  be  very 
valuable.  The  use  of  berries  and  other  pulpy  fruits  should 
be  explained  by  the  teacher,  since  it  could  hardly  be  imagined 
from  laboratory  study;  their  morphology  more  properly  comes 
later  in  the  section  "  Fruits." 

Pedagogics.  —  This  exercise  is  for  further  training  in  obser- 
vation, comparison  (morphology),  and  for  an  introduction  to 
ecology  (i.e.  adaptation  to  conditions  of  the  external  world). 

In  morphology  the  student  should  trace  out  from  exactly 
what  part  the  appendage  is  developed,  whether  from  seed-coat, 
ovary,  style,  or  calyx.  To  aid  in  this,  the  teacher  must  give 
some  account  of  the  structure  of  the  flower  and  fruit.  To 
distinguish  whether  a  given  structure  is  seed-coat  or  ovary, 
dissection  will  be  necessary.  He  will  thus  discover  that  what 
are  ecologically  the  same  structures  may  have  very  different 
morphological  origins ;  from  which  he  should  be  led,  after  the 
ecological  use  of  the  parts  has  been  learned,  to  infer  the  great 
importance  of  function  in  developing  structures. 


1/4  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

In  ecology,  since  the  study  is  in  the  laboratory,  and  not 
out  of  doors  (as  it  would  much  better  be),  the  students  can  do 
little  better  than  guess  at  the  use  of  the  different  appendages. 
They  can,  however,  be  much  helped  by  recalling  facts  already 
known  by  observation,  as  to  the  carrying  of  maple,  willow,  and 
other  seeds  and  fruits  by  wind,  and  the  sticking  of  seeds  to 
their  clothes  in  their  walks  through  pastures,  and  also  by  some 
simple  experiments,  suggested  by  the  teacher,  upon  the  differ- 
ent seeds  in  the  laboratory.  This  work  will  give  them  an 
introduction  to  theorizing  —  a  habit  of  the  greatest  value  in 
biology  if  kept  checked  by  rigid  observation  or  other  confir- 
mation, and  of  the  greatest  disaster  if  allowed  to  become 
merely  untested  guessing.  In  this  case,  since  confirmation 
from  outdoor  observation  is  impracticable,  the  correctness  of 
their  theories  will  need  to  be  tested  by  reference  to  the  teacher, 
who  should  be  thoroughly  informed  upon  the  subject ;  but  it 
should  be  made  plain  that  the  teacher's  knowledge  is  not 
better  than  their  own  observation,  but  only  a  substitute  en- 
forced by  circumstances. 

In  Exercise  8  (a)  the  students  will  think  of  wind,  animals, 
and  probably  water  currents,  to  which  hints  from  the  teacher 
may  cause  them  to  add  throwing  by  spring- apparatus,  which 
include  all  of  importance. 

In  their  drawings  the  important  locomotive  appendages 
should  be  clearly  brought  out ;  for  example,  in  the  Burdock, 
half  of  the  students  will  not  represent  the  hooked  tips,  though 
they  are  plainly  visible  ;  in  such  cases  they  should  individually 
be  told  they  have  missed  something  important,  and  left  to  seek 
until  they  have  found  and  correctly  represented  it. 

A  fully  illustrated  account  of  this  very  important  subject  of 
seed  locomotion,  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  all  botanical 
topics  to  most  people,  should  be  given  in  a  talk  or  lecture. 


LOCOMOTION   OF  SEEDS  175 

Books  relating  to  it  may  be  found  cited  in  Chapter  VII. 
Other  adaptations  in  seeds  may  also  be  taken  up,  such  as  their 
protection  against  animals  until  ripe ;  how  they  absorb  water ; 
how  some  seeds  plant  themselves,  etc. 

For  the  essay  on  the  seed,  consult  the  advice  in  Chapter  IV. 
It  is  convenient  to  have  a  special  book  for  the  essays,  uniform 
with  the  laboratory  book.  After  they  have  done  their  best  on 
this  essay,  it  is  well  to  read  them  one  written  by  the  teacher  as 
a  model.  Following  is  one  I  have  read  for  this  purpose  to  my 
students :  — 

THE  SEED 

General  Function. 

Structure,  —  Coats,  Embryo,  Endosperm. 

Locomotion. 

The  seed  is  a  portion  of  plant  substance  specialized  for 
reproduction  and  locomotion.  Under  a  great  variety  of  forms, 
sizes,  and  colors,  seeds  have  in  common  the  coats,  embryo, 
and  endosperm.  The  coats,  one  or  two,  are  protective,  and 
the  outer  usually  shows  the  scar  of  attachment  to  the  pod 
(hilum),  a  pit  by  which  the  fertilizing  pollen  tube  entered 
(micropyle),  and  a  ridge  through  which  the  nourishment  was 
distributed  (raphe  and  chalaza).  The  embryo  is  the  young 
plant,  and  consists  of  stem  (hypocotyl),  on  which  arc  placed 
laterally  one  or  two  leaves  (cotyledons),  and  which  merges 
upwards  into  the  bud  (plumule).  The  food-substance  may  be 
stored  in  the  cotyledons,  making  them  thick,  or  around  them, 
or  in  both  ways. 

Locomotion  is  as  essential  to  plants  as  to  animals,  and  since 
the  adults  cannot  move,  the  seed  is  generally  used  as  the 
locomotive  stage,  and  to  it  appendages  are  added  to  cause  it 
to  be  carried  by  some  of  the  natural  moving  agencies.  These 


1/6  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

appendages  may  be  outgrowths  of  the  seed-coat,  or  of  ovary, 
style,  or  calyx,  retained  for  the  purpose.  They  may  consist  of 
wings  or  plumes  to  utilize  the  wind,  hooks  for  attachment  to 
the  fur  of  animals,  pulp  to  be  eaten  by  animals,  or  may  be 
absent  altogether,  in  which  case  the  seeds  are  often  projected 
by  the  springing  of  elastic  tissues. 


IV.   The  Germination  of  the  Seed  and  Growth 
of  the  Embryo 

10.  Study  the  germinating  Lima  Beans,  and,  in  com- 
parison with  your  records  of  the  ungerminated 
bean,  observe :  — 

(1)  Whether   all   seeds   have   developed   at 

the  same  rate.     If  not,  why  not  ? 

(2)  Where  and  by  what  force  has  the  coat 

been  burst  ? 

(3)  What  change  has  occurred  in  the  food 

substance  ? 

(4)  What  changes  of  shape  and  size  have 

occurred  in  the  parts  originally  in  the 
seed  ? 

(5)  Have  any  new  parts  appeared  ? 

(6)  Does    hypocotyl    or    plumule    develop 

most  rapidly  ?     Why  ? 

(7)  What  directions  do  hypocotyl  and  plu- 

mule take  in  development,  relatively 


GERMINATION  OF  THE  SEED  1 77 

(a)  The    position    of   the    seed    as 

planted  ? 

(ft)  Any  feature  of  the  environment  ? 
(8)  What  are  the  relative  positions  of  main 

and  side  roots  ? 

Answer  by  a  fully  labelled  sketch  of  a  typical 
specimen,  and,  where  necessary,  concisely  in 
words. 

11.  Study  in  the  same  manner  the  germinating  Horse 

Bean. 

12.  Study  in  the  same  manner  the  germinating  Morn- 

ing-glory. 

13.  Study  in  the  same  manner  the  germinating  Corn. 

14.  Select  any  one  of  the  above  kinds  of  seeds,  and 

make  a  series  of  outline  drawings  to  illustrate 
Exercise  10  (7). 

15.  Your  studies  (Exercises  10  (7)  and  14)  have  shown 

you  that  the  positions  taken  by  hypocotyl  and 
plumule  in  growth  are  entirely  independent  of 
the  position  of  the  seed  from  which  they  came. 
Their  up-and-down  position  suggests  that  gravi- 
tation may  have  something  to  do  with  it.  To 
test  this,  the  logical  plan  is  to  place  two  sets 
of  seeds  under  conditions  precisely  alike,  except 
that  gravitation  is  allowed  to  act  upon  one  set 
and  not  upon  the  other.  Since,  however,  nothing 
upon  the  earth  can  be  removed  from  the  influ- 
ence of  gravitation,  it  is  necessary  so  to  arrange 


78  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

one  set  that  gravitation  may  be  made  to  neu- 
tralize its  own  effects.  This  has  been  done  in 
Experiment  i,  in  which  the  two  sets  of  seeds 
are  under  the  same  conditions  of  temperature, 
light,  moisture,  food  supply,  and  differ  only  in 
their  relation  to  gravitation. 

a.  Has  gravitation  anything  to  do  with  the  posi- 

tion taken    by  hypocotyl  and   plumule  in 
their  growth  from  the  seed  ?     Answer  by 
observation  of  Experiment  i. 
All    records    of    experiments    should    bring    out 
clearly :  — 

(1)  Object  of  the  experiment. 

(2)  Method  and  appliances  used. 

(3)  Exact  results  observed. 

(4)  Conclusions. 

b.  In  precisely  what  way  does   gravitation   act 

to  influence  the  up-and-down  position  ? 

c.  Express   synoptically  your  conclusions   upon 

these  points :  — 

(1)  For  what  good  $o  stems  grow  up  and 

roots  grow  down  ? 

(2)  By   what   influence   are   they   guided 

into  those  positions  ? 

(3)  By  what  mechanical  means  are  they 

brought  around  into  those  positions  ? 

(4)  Why  is  gravitation  thus  used  instead 

of  other  external  influences  ? 


GERMINATION  OF  THE  SEED 


1 79 


Materials.  —  The  seeds  may  best  be  germinated  in  wooden 
boxes  in  chopped  Sphagnum  moss ;  a  greenhouse  at  a  day 
temperature  of  70°  is  best,  and  without  bottom  heat,  which 
makes  the  roots  too  slender.  These  seeds  can  also  be  grown 
easily  in  the  Wardian  case  (see  page  85).  Lima  Bean  and 
Morning-glory  grow  faster  than  the  other  two,  which  must  be 
planted  two  or  three  days  earlier.  Six  to  eight  days  will  bring 
them  into  good  condition ;  the  best  state  is  that  in  which  the 
hypocotyl  and  root  are  about  one  to  two  inches  long.  The 


FIG.  16.  —  Box  with  sloping  glass  front  for  germination  of  seeds.     X  $. 

germinating  seeds  should,  of  course,  be  given  alive  and  grow- 
ing to  the  students ;  hence  they  should  be  planted  in  many 
small  boxes,  one  to  as  few  students  as  possible.  After  many 
trials  I  have  adopted  the  following  plan  :  wooden  boxes  are 
used,  of  the  shape  and  size  shown  in  Fig.  16,  eight  inches  long 
by  six  wide  and  five  deep,  painted  for  preservation,  and  with 
one  sloping  side  of  glass  slipped  into  a  groove  and  protected 
above  by  a  strip  of  wood ;  the  four  kinds  of  seeds  are  planted 
in  chopped  Sphagnum,  in  as  different  positions  as  possible, 
eight  of  each  kind  in  each  box.  The  Lima  Beans  are  planted 


180  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

against  the  glass,  and,  growing  against  it  in  their  descent,  show 
the  positions  and  mode  of  branching  of  the  roots  most  beauti- 
fully. One  of  these  boxes  is  supplied  to  each  student,  who 
uses  about  half  of  the  material,  and  has  it  again  for  the  work  of 
the  next  week,  the  box  in  the  meantime  being  returned  to  the 
greenhouse,  and  the  seedlings  grown  on  as  far  as  possible. 
The  boxes,  if  made  in  quantity  at  a  box  factory,  cost  complete 
about  12  cents  each,  and  of  course  can  be  used  many  years. 
The  value  of  supplying  to  each  student  his  own  set  of  living 
and  growing  specimens  in  a  box  so  arranged  as  to  show  the 
under-ground  as  well  as  above-ground  parts,  is  very  great,  and 
amply  worth  the  cost  and  trouble.  If  this  system  is  not  used, 
the  teacher  should  have  some  seeds  grown  in  one  such  box 
for  all  the  students  to  see.  The  advantage  of  using  the  moss 
instead  of  earth  is  obvious ;  it  is  lighter  and  cleaner,  and  the 
specimens  can  be  removed  from  it  without  injury. 

Pedagogics.  —  This  outline  can  be  completed  in  three  two- 
hour  periods.  It  is  to  continue  training  in  observation  and 
comparison,  but  especially  is  an  introduction  to  the  morpho- 
logical and  ecological  principles  controlling  the  unfolding  of 
the  seed  into  the  adult  plant,  and  (most  important  of  all)  is  an 
introduction  to  the  nature  of  irritability,  which  in  plants  answers 
to  sensation  in  animals. 

The  students  should  not  fail  to  notice  that  the  root,  the 
root  hairs,  the  turning  green  of  parts  exposed  to  light,  the  axil- 
lary buds  of  the  cotyledons  in  the  brown  bean,  and  the  partial 
disappearance  of  food  substance  are  new  features.  They  should 
especially  see  that  it  is  the  elongation  of  the  hypocotyl  which 
raises  the  cotyledons  in  Lima  Bean  and  Morning-glory,  while 
it  does  not  increase  at  all  in  length  in  the  Horse  Bean  and 
Corn.  The  root  is,  of  course,  a  new  structure  developed  from 
the  lower  end  of  the  hypocotyl,  and  its  beginning  is  usually 


GERMINATION  OF  THE  SEED  l8l 

marked  by  a  slight  constriction  or  by  the  first  side  roots. 
Students  will  tend  to  call  the  main  root  hypocotyl,  and  to 
call  only  the  side  branches  "  roots,"  which  must  be  corrected. 
The  structure  of  the  root,  including  the  tips  and  root  hairs,  is 
very  plainly  seen  through  the  glass,  especially  by  use  of  a  lens, 
and  should  be  well  worked  out.  Full  labelling,  to  bring  out 
the  homologous  parts,  is  very  important. 

In  facts  of  ecology,  they  will  notice  that  root  grows  faster 
than  plumule  (of  course  because  absorption  of  moisture  is  a 
first  need),  and  that  size  of  seed,  position  in  which  planted, 
amount  of  moisture,  all  have  something  to  do  with  the  dif- 
ferent rates  of  development  of  the  same  kinds  of  seeds,  to 
which  some  students  will  probably  add  a  real  difference  in 
their  living  matter,  which  is  strictly  true.  We  have  here  an 
introduction  to  facts  of  individual  variation,  so  important  in 
evolution.  From  some  of  each  of  the  kinds  in  the  boxes,  the 
young  plumules  should  be  pinched  off,  the  results  to  be  noted 
the  next  week. 

It?  would  be  of  interest  also  in  this  connection  to  study  the 
germination  of  Horse-chestnut,  but  practically  it  is  very  diffi- 
cult to  germinate. 

They  will,  of  course,  readily  notice  in  Exercise  10  (7)  that 
the  position  taken  by  hypocotyl  and  plumule  '(or  rather  epi- 
cotyl),  in  growth,  bears  no  relation  whatsoever  to  the  position 
of  the  seed,  but  that,  regardless  of  this,  all  hypocotyls  bearing 
the  roots  grow  down,  and  all  plumules  grow  up.  They  should 
then  be  led  to  ask  what  determines  this  up-and-down  position 
(that  is,  how  does  the  young  plant  know  which  is  up,  and 
which  is  down),  whether  darkness  below,  or  the  moisture,  or 
something  else ;  they  may  be  encouraged  to  experiment  upon 
these,  and  then  their  minds  will  be  in  condition  to  appreciate 
the  results  of  Exercise  15. 


1 82  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

Other  topics  of  interest  and  value  on  germination  are  :  — 

How  the  seed-coats  are  burst  in  different  seeds. 

flow  the  embryo  breaks  out  of  the  ground. 

How  the  embryos  fasten  themselves  to  the  ground  to  give 

a  resistance  to  enable  the  hypocotyl  to  bore  into  the 

ground. 
The  behavior  of  the  food  substance  in  germination. 

Experiment  No.  i.  —  This  experiment  is  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance, since  it  gives  a  logical  understanding  of  the  true  nature  of 
geotropism,  a  typical  form  of  irritability,  and  one  of  the  easiest 
to  understand.  If  geotropism  is  once  understood,  it  will  make 
all  other  forms  of  irritability  easily  comprehended.  Irritabil- 
ity in  plants  answers  to  sensation  in  animals,  and  a  clear  con- 
ception of  it  is  essential  to  the  understanding  of  the  most 
important  peculiarities  of  plant  form,  movements,  and  adapta- 
tion of  the  individual  to  its  environment.  I  believe  that  one 
of  the  greatest  advances  that  could  be  made  toward  placing 
the  teaching  of  Botany  upon  a  truly  scientific  basis  would  be 
through  the  introduction  into  it  of  a  correct  teaching  of  irrita- 
bility. Of  course  the  teacher  must  first  be  trained,  or  train 
himself,  in  this  vital  subject. 

Experiment  i  can  be  performed  very  satisfactorily,  as  fol- 
lows :  Pin  to  each  of  two  corks,  five  inches  in  extreme  diameter 
and  one  inch  thickness,  five  or  six  soaked  Horse  Beans  in  as 
different  positions  as  possible,  though  alike  on  the  two  corks. 
Slip  the  Beans  out  to  the  heads  of  the  pins  a  half  inch  or  more 
from  the  corks.  Place  around,  over,  and  under  them  clean, 
moist,  chopped  Sphagnum  moss,  and  then  fit  over  the  corks 
thin  crystallizing  dishes  (see  Fig.  17),  about  two  and  a  quarter 
inches  deep,  and  wide  enough  to  just  hold  well  on  the  bevelled 
edges  of  the  corks  when  these  are  pushed  into  them  (i.e.  four 


GERMINATION  OF  THE  SEED  183 

and  a  half  inches  in  diameter).  Set  one  cork  upright  in  a 
fixed  position ;  push  the  horizontal  rod  of  a  clinostat  into  a 
hole  previously  made  in  the  middle  of  the  other,  so  it  will  be 
kept  revolving  slowly  in  a  vertical  plane.  The  Beans  on  the 
fixed  cork  will,  in  three  or  four  days,  all  have  roots 
turned  downward,  while  on  the  revolving  cork  they  are  at 
any  and  all  angles,  but  usually  somewhat  in  the  direction  they 
have  in  the  seeds.  It  is  well  to  keep  them  covered  from  light 


FIG.  17. —  A  simple  clinostat.     x  J. 

by  black  paper,  but  while  under  observation  by  the  students 
the  moss  may  be  removed  and  the  glass  cleaned  and  replaced. 
Using  the  Horse  Beans,  which  are  the  best  known  to  me  for 
such  purposes,  this  experiment  is,  with  me,  always  highly 
satisfactory.  The  crystallizing  dishes  may  be  omitted,  in  which 
case  occasional  watering  is  needed,  and  the  moss  must  be  tied 
to  the  corks,  or  aluminum  dishes  could  be  used. 

Unfortunately,  the  only  clinostats  on  the  market  are  expen- 
sive.    Wortmann's  is  the  best ;  it  costs  duty-free  about  $50,  and 


1 84  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

must  be  imported  from  Germany  by  one  of  the  dealers  in  labor- 
atory supplies  (see  page  93).  It  is  useful  for  many  purposes, 
however,  and  is  a  profitable  investment.  I  have  made  a  fair 
substitute,  as  follows  :  buy  a  Seth  Thomas  eight-day  clock,  cost 
about  $5  ;  have  a  watchmaker  alter  the  wheels  so  that  the 
spindle  of  the  minute-hand  will  make  a  revolution  in  about] 
fifteen  minutes  (rendered  necessary  by  the  shortness  of  "  re- 
action time  ")  ;  this  can  be  done  by  shortening  the  hair-spring 
and  removing  each  alternate  tooth  from  the  escapement  wheel ; 
let  him  make  a  brass  disk  two  inches  in  diameter,  with  holes 
on  its  edge,  and  an  arm  to  slip  over  the  spindle,  so  that  the 
disk  will  revolve  parallel  to  the  face  of  the  clock.  To  this 
disk  may  then  be  fastened,  by  tacks  through  the  holes,  a  cork 
bearing  the  seeds,  as  recommended  above  (Fig.  17).  Such  a 
clinostat  will  not  carry  large  flower-pots,  but  seeds  and  seed- 
lings grown  in  moss  show  the  principle  of  irritability  as  well  as 
potted  plants. 

From  observation  of  this  experiment,  in  which  the  two  sets  of 
seeds  are  under  precisely  the  same  external  conditions  in  every 
respect  except  in  their  relations  to  gravitation,  students  should 
be  able  to  deduce  the  fact  that  gravitation  is  a  determining  in- 
fluence in  giving  the  up-and-down  position  to  the  developing 
plumules  and  roots.  Since,  however,  parts  grow  up  against 
gravitation  as  well  as  down  with  it,  it  cannot  act  simply  as 
"  weight,"  but  can  only  serve  as  a  guide  or  index  of  direction. 
The  teacher  will  have  to  explain  that  the  movement  of  the 
growing  parts  around  into  the  vertical  position  is  brought  about 
by  one-sided  growth,  a  subject  very  easily  illustrated  by  experi- 
ment. Gradually  the  students  may  be  brought  to  recognize  in 
the  process  the  three  elements:  (i)  an  hereditary  knowledge 
(as  it  were)  in  the  embryo  of  the  advantageousness  of  sending 
stems  up  and  roots  down;  (2)  a  power  of  perceiving  from  the 


GERMINATION  OF  THE  SEED  185 

pull  of  gravitation,  which  is  up  and  which  is  down  ;  and  (3)  the 
use  of  processes  of  growth  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  the  parts 
around  into  the  up-and-down  position.  A  fair  simile  helping 
to  make  the  process  clear  is  that  of  a  sailor  starting  to  cross 
the  ocean,  steering  by  compass.  Here,  too,  are  the  three 
elements:  (i)  the  sailor  knows  to  what  port  it  is  to  his 
interest  to  go  ;  (2)  he  perceives  by  observation  of  the  compass 
which  is  the  proper  direction  for  him  to  take;  (3)  he  so  ad- 
justs his  mechanism  of  rudder  and  steam,  or  sails,  as  to  take 
him  to  his  destination.  The  plant  uses  the  pull  of  gravitation 
as  the  sailor  uses  the  compass,  purely  as  an  index  to  direction, 
and  gravitation  no  more  pulls  the  plant  into  the  up-and-down 
position  than  the  compass  pulls  the  sailor  north  and  south.  In 
both  cases  it  is  previous  experience  which  gives  the  knowledge 
of  the  proper  direction  to  be  taken ;  in  both  cases  there  is  use 
of  a  guide  to  show  which  is  the  direction ;  and  in  both  cases 
there  is  a  motive  mechanism  to  carry  them  into  the  advanta- 
geous position.  Later  studies  will  prove  to  the  students  that 
gravitation  is  not  only  used  as  a  guide  to  the  up-and-down  direc- 
tion, but  also  as  a  guide  to  lateral  directions,  as  in  lateral  roots 
and  stems,  and,  in  many  creeping  stems  and  climbing  roots ; 
here,  too,  the  analogy  with  the  compass  holds,  for  the  sailor 
need  not  go  north  or  south  as  the  needle  points,  but  at  any 
angle  between  which  it  is  his  interest  to  take,  and  the  compass 
guides  him  as  well  east  or  west,  though  it  points  north  and  south  ; 
and  this  is  true,  also,  of  gravitatiqn  with  the  plant.  The  reason 
why  gravitation  is  used  as  a  guide  instead  of  light  (by  the 
stems),  or  moisture,  etc.  (by  the  roots),  which  also  would  guide 
those  parts  into  the  proper  directions  is,  no  doubt,  this,  that 
gravitation  acts  in  the  proper  direction,  with  constant  intensity, 
and  at  all  times,  while  all  of  the  other  influences  vary  in  direc- 
tion, and  are  sometimes  altogether  absent. 


1 86  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

In  geotropism  there  are  many  additional  experiments  very 
easy  to  try,  and  very  instructive.  For  example,  while  the  side 
roots  are  growing,  the  germination  box  may  be  tipped  up 
through  45°  in  a  vertical  plane,  when  a  beautiful  response  to 
the  changed  direction  takes  place ;  to  show  that  the  upward 
growth  of  stem  is  geotropic,  a  small  plant  may  be  placed  on 
its  side  in  darkness  for  a  day ;  also  plant  a  Bean  in  a  small 
pot  of  Sphagnum  moss,  and  after  it  is  well  up,  turn  pot 
and  all  upside  down,  and  support  it  in  that  position  for 
two  or  three  days,  after  which  the  moss  is  to  be  removed. 
A  most  valuable  experiment,  proving  that  growth  is  concerned 
in  bringing  roots  into  the  vertical  position,  is  as  follows :  — 
Place  a  soaked  Horse  Bean  in  moist  Sphagnum  moss,  with 
its  hypocotyl  pointing  downward;  after  the  root  has  grown 
one  inch  long,  remove  it,  and,  keeping  it  from  drying  in  the 
process,  mark  rings  a  millimetre  apart  upon  it,  from  end  to 
end,  with  waterproof  India  ink.  This  may  best  be  done  by  a 
thread  moistened  with  the  ink  and  kept  stretched  on  a  spring 
made  of  wire.  Replace  the  seed  in  the  moss  with  the  root 
horizontal,  and,  after  it  has  again  turned  downward,  note  the 
position  of  the  rings. 

If  students  are  not  satisfied  that  gravitation  is  the  guide  to 
direction  in  ordinary  plants,  but  think  that  it  may  be  moisture 
which  guides  the  roots  into  the  soil,  or  light  which  guides  the 
stems  upward,  etc.,  very  simple  experiments  may  be  invented 
to  prove  that  these  influences  do  not  thus  act.  Thus,  light 
may  be  thrown  upward  upon  a  plant,  turned  upside  down, 
by  means  of  a  mirror,  the  plant  being  covered  with  a  dark 
box  above.  Again,  seeds  may  be  placed  in  the  centre  of 
a  large  box  of  Sphagnum,  and  watered  from  above ;  and  other 
experiments  equally  simple  may  be  devised  by  the  teacher  to 
meet  each  point. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  SEEDLING  187 


V.   The  Structure  and   Development  of  the 
Seedling 

1 6.  t  Study,    at    every    step    in    comparison    with    your 

records   of   the   earlier   stages,  the   seedling    of 
the  Lima  Bean. 

(1)  Into  what  has  each  part  of  the  original 

embryo  developed  ? 

(2)  Are  there  any  new  parts  not  originally 

in  the  embryo  ? 

(3)  How  are   the   new  leaves   placed   rela- 

tively to   the  cotyledons  and  to  one 
another  ? 

(4)  How   do   the    later    leaves   differ   from 

the  earlier  ? 

(5)  How  many  buds  are  there,  and  where 

are  they  ? 

(6)  Where    does    hypocotyl    end    and    root 

begin  ? 

(7)  Is   there   any  regularity  about   the   ar- 

rangement of   new  roots  as  there  is 

about  new  leaves  ? 

Answer  by  an  annoted  sketch,  bringing  out  the 
above  points.  The  labelling  should  express 
clearly  the  morphology. 

17.  After   the   same   manner   study   the    Horse    Bean 

seedling. 


1 88  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

(1)  Why  do  the   cotyledons   remain   below 

ground  in  this   Bean,  and  rise  above 
it  in  the  Lima  Bean  ? 

(2)  What  effect  is  produced  by  this  differ- 

ence upon  the  growth  of  the   hypo- 
cotyls  ? 

(3)  Where  is  the  terminal  bud  which  con- 

tinues the  growth  of  the  stem  ? 

1 8.  After  the  same  manner  study  the  Morning-glory 

seedling. 
Why  does  the  plumule  develop  so  late  ? 

19.  After  the  same   manner  study  the  Corn  seedling. 
From  what  parts  do  the  upper  roots  come  ?     Is 

there  anything  similar  in  adult  Corn  plants  ? 

20.  From  your  observations  deduce  the  morphological 

nature   of    hypocotyl,    cotyledon,    and   plumule. 
Express  in  a  sentence. 

21.  Construct   a   series  of   four   generalized   diagrams 

of  the  seedlings  studied,  expressing  in  colors 
(identical  with  those  used  in  Exercise  7)  the 
comparative  morphology  of  the  four  seedlings, 
in  comparison  with  one  another  and  with  the 
seeds  from  which  they  grew. 
(Place  if  possible  on  the  same  page  with  those 
of  Exercise  7.) 

22.  You   have   observed   in   your  boxes   of    seedlings 

the  turning   of   the   plants   toward   the  lightest 
side ;  and  this  turning  toward  the  light  is  very 


OF  THE   SEEDLING  189 

well  known  to  you  in  house  plants  in  windows. 
The  constancy  of  this  turning  suggests  that 
light-direction  must  determine  it.  To  test  this, 
the  influence  of  one-sided  light  must  be  removed. 
This  may  be  done  either  by  placing  the  plant 
in  the  dark  (which,  however,  introduces  abnor- 
mal conditions),  or  else  by  making  it  revolve 
so  that  one-sided  light  is  made  to  neutralize 
its  own  effects.  The  latter  has  been  done  in 
Experiment  2. 

(1)  Is  light-direction  a  determinant  of  bend- 

ing of  green  leaves  and  stems  ?     An- 
swer by  observation  of  Experiment  2. 

(2)  Is  the  process  of  turning  (called  helio- 

tropism)  analogous  to  geotropism? 

(3)  For   what    good   do   leaves    and   stems 

turn  toward  the  light? 

(4)  Do    leaves    and   stems  behave  alike  as 

to  the  positions  they  take   relatively 
to  light-direction? 

Materials.  —  Either  seedlings  remaining  in  the  boxes  of 
last  week,  or,  since  they  can  hardly  grow  enough  in  a  week, 
others  grown  on  in  ordinary  boxes;  they  are  most  useful  if 
the  third  and  fourth  leaves  show.  It  is  well  to  grow  some 
of  them  in  the  Wardian  case,  so  the  students  can  watch  their 
development. 

Pedagogics. — This  exercise  (needing  at  least  three  two-hour 
periods)  is  for  further  training  in  observation  and  morphology, 


THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

but  it  is  especially  for  the  observation  of  ecological  and 
physiological  phenomena,  and  the  use  of  experiment  in  their 
interpretation. 

In  observation,  they  should  not  fail  of  themselves  to  see 
and  record,  in  addition  to  the  more  obvious  features,  the  axil- 
lary buds  of  the  cotyledons  of  the  Beans,  stipules  on  the 
Lima  Bean  (united  in  pairs  at  the  first  leaves),  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  earlier  roots  in  four  ranks  (answering  to  their 
origin  from  the  four  fibre-vascular  bundles),  and  the  fact  that 
leaf  veins  taper  from  base  to  tip,  and  are  all  united  with  one 
another.  The  position  of  the  terminal  bud  in  the  Horse 
Bean  should  also  be  seen  correctly. 

Exercise  20  is  most  important  to  compel  clearness  in  mor- 
phological ideas,  as  is  particularly  Exercise  21. 

In  ecology  they  may  be  led  to  see  that  the  failure  of 
cotyledons  to  come  above  ground  in  two  of  the  seedlings  is 
due  to  their  lack  of  usefulness  as  leaves  on  account  of  their 
shape.  In  the  Morning-glory,  the  small  supply  of  nourishment 
in  the  seed  explains  the  late  appearance  of  the  plumule ;  the 
material  to  make  it  must  first  be  formed  in  the  green  cotyle- 
dons. Most  students  can  recall  the  roots  from  joints  above 
ground  in  adult  Corn  plants.  They  should  be  encouraged 
always  to  call  to  their  aid  any  previous  knowledge  of  this  kind 
which  they  may  possess. 

Experiment  No.  2. —  In  preparation  for  this  the  teacher 
will  do  well  to  direct  the  students'  attention  beforehand  to  the 
obvious  cases  of  turning  toward  light  in  the  boxes  of  seedlings, 
and  the  cases  known  to  all  of  them  in  house  plants.  Two 
simple  and  similar  plants  in  small  pots  should  be  taken 
(Tropczolum,  i.e.  "Nasturtium,"  is  very  good).  They  should 
be  placed  in  strong  one-sided  light,  but  one  of  them  should 
be  kept  revolving  in  a  horizontal  plane  on  a  clinostat,  Of 


THE  DIFFERENTIATED   PLANT  191 

course  if  a  Wortmann  or  other  large  clinostat  is  available, 
plants  of  any  size  may  be  used ;  but  if  only  the  small  clino- 
stat made  from  a  clock,  as  recommended  for  geotropism  ex- 
periments (page  184),  is  at  hand,  then  a  very  light  flower-pot, 
preferably  not  over  three  inches  in  diameter,  is  needed,  and 
seedlings  growing  in  Sphagnum  moss  may  be  used. 

Numerous  supplementary  experiments  may  be  tried,  such 
as  allowing  the  parts  to  become  turned  to  light,  and  then 
exactly  reversing  them  by  turning  the  pot  through  180°. 
Indeed,  this  simple  experiment  is  almost  as  satisfactory  as  the 
clinostat.  Again,  the  negative  heliotropism  of  roots  may  very 
easily  be  illustrated  by  the  familiar  experiment  given  in  most 
books  (as  in  MacDougal's  Physiology,  page  59,  Fig.  54). 

Observation  of  their  experiments  and  of  other  cases  should 
lead  students  to  see  for  themselves  that  stems  turn  into  the  line 
of  the  light,  while  leaves  turn  at  right  angles  to  it,  and  they 
can  easily  be  led  to  see  the  meaning  of  this  :  the  light  being 
necessary  to  the  leaves,  they  expose  their  flat  surfaces  to  it, 
while  the  stems  take  that  direction  to  help  expose  the  surfaces 
of  the  leaves.  The  very  close  analogy  of  the  process  with 
geotropism  should  be  emphasized. 

VI.   The  Differentiated  Higher  Plant 

23.  Study  the  Bean  plant,  a  well-differentiated  plant. 

Observe  every   constant    external   feature,   and 
properly  record. 

Finally,  remove  it  from  the  pot,  wash  away  the 
soil,  and  observe  the  structure  of  the  roots. 

24.  In  comparison  with  the   Bean,   observe  fully  the 

Coleus  and  the  Balsam  (Impatiens).     (It  is  not 


192  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

necessary  to  make  full  records  for  them.)  By 
comparison  of  the  three  plants  determine,  and 
express  in  words :  — 

(1)  Have  leaf  and  bud  any  constant  rela- 

tionship of  position  ? 

(2)  In  what  positions  do  flowers  (or  fruit) 

originate  ? 

(3)  Do  leaves  and  stem  increase  in  size  in 

some  special  part,  or  through  their 
entire  extent? 

(4)  Is  there  any  regularity  in  the  position 

of  origin  of  leaves  on  the  stem  ? 
(Invent  simple  and  logical  diagrams 
to  show  the  leaf  arrangement  in  the 
three  plants.) 

(5)  In  what  positions  do  new  roots   origi- 

nate ? 

25.  Diagram  the  geotropism  of  the  Coleus  shoot.     In 

one  diagram  express  the  ideal  arrangement,  and 
in  another  its  disturbance  by  light  from  one  side. 

26.  In  growth,  such  as  you  have  been  studying,  very 

important  physiological  processes  occur.  From 
common  observation  and  experience,  which  may 
be  tested  by  simple  experiments,  every  one 
knows  that  warmth  and  moisture  are  necessary 
to  all  stages  of  growth,  including  germination  of 
seeds.  Particularly  important,  in  growth  as  in 
many  other  physiological  processes,  is  its  rela- 


THE  DIFFERENTIATED   PLANT  193 

tion  to  the  two  gases,  oxygen  and  carbon  dioxide. 
This  relation  may  best  be  investigated  in  the 
germination  of  seeds,  since  there  it  is  least 
complicated  by  other  processes. 

(1)  Is  oxygen  necessary  for  the  germination 

of  seeds  ?  This  can  be  answered  by 
an  experiment  in  which  a  comparison 
may  be  made  between  one  set  of 
seeds  supplied  with  oxygen,  and  an- 
other set  deprived  of  it.  This  has 
been  done  in  Experiment  3,  in  which 
oxygen  is  left  in  the  two  tubes  con- 
taining the  clear  liquids,  and  absorbed 
by  pyrogallic  acid  and  potash  in  the 
other.  Minutely  observe  this. 

(2)  When  one  of  these  gases  is  absorbed, 

the  other  is  usually  given  off. 
Is  carbon  dioxide  given  off  in  growth  ? 
This  may  be  answered  by  an  experi- 
ment in  which  a  liquid  capable  of 
absorbing  carbon  dioxide  (such  as 
caustic  potash)  is  so  placed  that  it 
will  rise  in  a  tube  as  it  absorbs  that 
gas  from  a  closed  space.  This  has 
been  done  in  Experiment  3  in  one  of 
the  tubes  containing  the  clear  liquid. 
The  third  tube  contains  simply  water. 

(3)  Is  this  process  like  anything  in  animals? 


194  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

(4)  What  is  the  primary  meaning  and  use 
of  this  process  in   the   plant?      Has 
it  the  same  meaning  in  the  animal? 
Your  record  of  (i)  and  (2)  above  is  to 
be  worked  out  as  in  Exercise  15  (a). 
27.    Prepare  a  synoptical  essay  (not  over  three  hundred 
words)  upon  the  Germination  of  the  Seed  and 
the  Growth  of  the  Embryo  into  the  Adult  Plant. 
To  be  handed  in  (here  the  date). 

Materials.  —  Bush  Beans  (Phaseolus  vulgaris,  var.  Golden 
Wax)  are  very  easily  grown,  one  in  a  pot,  and  may  be  brought 
into  flower  and  fruit  in  about  six  weeks.  Lima  and  Horse 
Beans  grow  so  large  they  are  unmanageable.  Of  course  other 
plants  may  be  used,  but  the  advantage  of  following  some  one 
kind  of  plant  through  its  entire  cycle  is  very  great,  and  the 
Bean  shows  a  particularly  large  number  of  important  features. 
One  plant  will  do  for  several  students,  though  the  ideal  is  one 
to  a  student.  It  is  easy  to  obtain  others  from  florists  for 
comparison,  and  Coleus  and  Balsam  (Impaticw  sultani)  are 
particularly  good,  though  others  will  do ;  one  or  two  of  each 
of  these  would  be  enough  for  a  class. 

Pedagogics.  —  This  exercise,  in  addition  to  training  as  be- 
fore, is  intended  to  give  a  clear  idea  of  the  morphological 
composition  of  the  higher  plant,  and  also  of  the  nature  of  the 
process  of  respiration.  As  to  observation,  having  reached  this 
stage,  the  student  should  be  able  to  work  out  and  show  the  con- 
stant features  of  fairly  complex  structures  fully  and  correctly, 
and  to  represent  them  well.  He  should  not  miss  the  pulvinus 
of  the  leaves  nor  the  stipels,  nor  the  very  important  nodules  on 
the  roots,  nor  the  calyx  and  bracts  on  the  fruit.  In  morphol- 


THE  DIFFERENTIATED  PLANT  1 95 

ogy  he  should  note  that  flowers  (and  fruits)  originate  where 
buds  do ;  that  new  parts  come  either  from  terminal  or  axillary 
buds  and  that  buds  produce  stems  bearing  leaves  as  lateral  out- 
growths. If  allowed  to  follow  his  own  observations  to  their 
conclusions,  and  not  forced  into  seeing  what  is  not  there,  he 
will  find  that  the  plant,  so  far  from  consisting  of  a  series  of  joints 
(phytomera)  springing  one  out  of  another,  grows  from  contin- 
ually advancing  buds  which  put  out  the  leaves  laterally  and 
branch  ^in  the  axils  of  these.  The  teacher  will  do  well  to 
introduce  here  an  illustrated  account  of  the  mode  of  origin 
of  leaves  from  vegetative  points.  The  appearance  of  nodes 
and  internodes  is  thus  not  of  primary  importance,  but  is 
incidental ;  properly,  leaves  do  not  stand  at  nodes ;  nodes  are 
places  where  leaves  stand.  The  student  can  make  out  also 
that  the  stem  must  grow  through  a  considerable  part  of  its 
length,  but  most  actively  near  its  tip,  and  that  leaves  grow 
all  through  their  structure.  He  should  also  recognize  that 
the  root  is  a  single  profusely  branching  structure,  originating 
from  a  stem.  The  ecology  of  leaf,  stem,  root,  .should,  of 
course,  be  fully  explained.  This  exercise  affords  also  a  very 
good  introduction  to  phyllotaxy. 

The  geotropism  of  the  Coleus  shoot  may  be  diagrammed  in 
simple  outline  figures. 

The  nodules  on  the  roots  of  Beans,  and  their  part  in  sup- 
plying additional  nitrogen  to  the  plant,  should  be  explained  ;  it 
is  a  most  interesting  and  important  topic,  fully  treated  in  the 
newer  books. 

Most  important  are  the  facts  shown  by  Experiment  3.  It 
proves  the  absorption  of  oxygen  and  elimination  of  carbon 
dioxide  by  plants  in  growth,  a  process  identical  with  that  occur- 
ring in  animals ;  and  it  should  be  the  more  clearly  emphasized 
here,  since  there  is  a  general  misunderstanding  of  the  process, 


196 


THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 


due  to  a  confusion  of  it  with  the  gas  exchange  in  photosyn-r 
thesis.  There  is  no  place  in  the  cycle  of  the  plant's  life  in 
which  respiration  can  be  studied  so  free  from  complication 
with  other  processes  as  in  germinating  seeds. 

Experiment  No.  3.  —  Prepare  three  U -tubes  and  three  up- 
right test-tubes,  as  shown  in  Fig.  18,  or  their  equivalents. 
Half  fill  the  test-tubes  with,  respectively,  water,  a  strong  solu- 
tion of  caustic  potash,  and  a  concentrated  mixture  of  caustic 
potash  and  pyrogallic  acid.  Place  in  one  arm  of  each  U-tube 
a  half  dozen  soaked  oats,  beneath  which  is  a  small  wad  of 

moist  Sphagnum,  and  cork 
tightly  with  rubber  stop- 
pers ;  do  not  allow  the 
arm  to  become  wet  above 
the  seeds,  or  the  potash 
will  diffuse  over  and  kill 
them.  Place  the  uncorked 
ends  of  the  U -tubes  in 
the  test-tubes.  The  py- 
rogallic solution  will,  in  a 
short  time,  rise  in  the 
U-tube  about  one-fifth  of 
its  length,  through  the 
absorption  of  the  oxy- 
gen ;  the  seeds  will  not  germinate,  or,  if  at  all,  extremely  little. 
In  the  potash  tube  the  liquid  will  rise  to  the  same  height,  but 
more  slowly,  and  the  seeds  will  germinate  and  grow  considera- 
bly. In  the  water  tube  the  liquid  will  scarcely  rise  at  all,  though 
the  seeds  will  grow  as  in  the  preceding.  Of  course,  in  the  sec- 
ond tube,  in  the  respiration  accompanying  their  growth,  the 
seeds  absorb  the  oxygen  and  give  off  carbon  dioxide,  which 
is  absorbed  by  the  potash,  and  the  latter  rises  to  occupy  the 


FIG.  18.  —  Apparatus  for  study  of  respiration 
in  germinating  seeds.  The  tubes  contain, 
respectively,  water,  solution  of  caustic 
potash,  concentrated  mixture  of  caustic 
potash  and  pyrogallic  acid.  X  i 


THE  DIFFERENTIATED   PLANT  19? 

space  thus  left.  Some  of  the  brighter  pupils,  observing  the 
pyrogallic  and  the  potash  tubes  alone,  would  say  that  all  the 
potash  tube  proves  is  that  something  is  absorbed,  doubtless 
oxygen,  from  the  air  by  the  plants,  and  that  nothing  is  proved 
to  be  given  off  since  removal  of  the  oxygen  alone  necessitates 
the  rise  of  the  liquid.  In  answer  to  this  is  the  water  tube, 
the  failure  of  the  liquid  in  which  to  rise  proves  that  some- 
thing is  given  off  as  well  as  absorbed,  and  since  the  only 
gas  absorbed  by  potash  is  carbon  dioxide,  that  gas  must  be 
given  off  in  volume  equal  to  the  oxygen  absorbed.  This 
experiment  proves  that  oxygen  is  necessary  to  growth,  that 
carbon  dioxide  is  given  off,  and  that  the  volumes  of  gas  thus 
exchanged  are  equal.  This  exchange  is,  of  course,  respiration, 
necessary  to  supply  energy  for  growth. 

This  experiment  always  works  very  well  with  me ;  if  it  fails, 
it  will  probably  be  found  that  the  pyrogallic- potash  mixture  is 
not  concentrated  enough.  Practically,  it  is  best  to  place  the 
pyrogallic  acid  in  the  arm  of  the  U-tube,  and  the  potash  in  the 
test-tube,  when  the  mixing  occurs  where  it  will  do  most  good. 

There  are  other  very  simple  experiments  to  substantiate 
these  results.  Thus  the  giving  off  of  carbon  dioxide  may  be 
proved  by  placing  in  a  closed  bottle  a  number  of  soaked  seeds 
with  a  small  dish  of  clear  lime  water,  the  milkiness  of  which, 
after  two  or  three  days,  will  prove  the  presence  of  the  gas ; 
while  in  a  similar  bottle  without  the  seeds  it  will  remain  clear. 

The  students  will  themselves  suggest  the  identity  of  this 
process  with  respiration  in  animals ;  it  is  also  called  respiration 
in  plants.  The  teacher,  by  a  lecture  or  otherwise,  can  make 
it  plain  that  it  is  by  oxidation  of  food  that  both  plants  and 
animals  obtain  the  energy  needed  in  the  work  of  growth.  Of 
course,  the  results  of  this  experiment,  with  a  drawing  of  the 
apparatus,  should  be  carefully  worked  out  by  the  students. 


198  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

VII.    Plasticity  of  the  Shoot  and  Root  in  Form 
and  Size 

28.  In  the  Bean,  Coleus,  and  Balsam  you  have  studied 
three  fairly  typical  Mesophytes.  The  most 
typical  or  average  form  would  show  a  vertical, 
independent,  cylindrical  stem,  growing  by  vegeta- 
tive points  at  its  tip  and  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves, 
and  continued  into  a  main  root  at  its  lower  end. 
The  leaves  would  stand  in  definite  positions 
(producing  the  nodes),  separated  by  spaces  (the 
internodes),  and  would  be  arranged  either  in 
whorls  of  two  or  more  at  a  node,  or  with  but 
one  at  a  node,  and  forming  a  spiral.  The  leaves 
would  be  simple,  thin,  horizontal,  toothed,  ovate 
in  form,  with  a  petiole  and  two  stipules.  But 
such  a  condition  is  an  ideal  one  and  not  realized 
in  any  single  plant,  and  very  wide  deviations 
from  it  occur  in  plants  as  result  of  adaptation 
to  special  habits. 

In  what  respects  are  the  plants  on  the  tables  modi- 
fied from  the  typical  or  average  condition,  and 
what  is  the  probable  ecological  meaning  of  the 
modification  ? 

Your  record,  of  eight  plants,  should  bring  out 
the  name  of  the  plant  and  scale  of  the  draw- 
ing. It  is  not  necessary  always  to  draw  the 
entire  plant,  but  only  its  peculiar  features. 


PLASTICITY  OF  SHOOT  AND  ROOT  199 

a.  How  may  simple   be   distinguished  from  com- 

pound  leaves? 

b.  Do  leaves   always    continue    to    grow    straight 

out  from  their  points  of  origin? 

29.  You  have  noticed  that  seedlings  turn  green  as 
they  come  into  the  light,  and  further  observa- 
tion shows  that  in  general  only  parts  exposed 
to  light  are  green.  It  is  known  to  physiologists 
that  starch,  which  is  the  real  food  of  plants, 
is  made  only  in  green  parts.  Is  there  any 
connection  between  these  facts,  i.e.  is  light 
essential  to  starch  formation  ?  Answer  by 
Experiment  4. 

The  exchange  of  gases,  particularly  O  and  CO2, 
in  these  processes,  is  important.  What  gas  is 
given  off  in  starch  making  (photosynthesis  or 
assimilation)?  Answer  by  Experiment  5. 

If  the  gas  proven  by  Experiment  5  is  given  off, 
inferentially  the  other  is  absorbed,  and  hence 
necessary  to  the  process.  Is  it  necessary  ? 
Answer  by  Experiment  6. 

Materials.  —  These  should  be  preferably  potted  plants, 
studied  in  a  greenhouse  or  brought  to  the  laboratory;  they 
need  not  be  injured.  Or  herbarium  material,  collected  for 
the  purpose  on  the  principle  earlier  discussed  (page  106), 
may  be  used.  Extreme  modifications  in  adaptation  to  special 
function  may  best  be  left  for  another  week ;  here  should  come 
"stemless"  plants  (primroses,  houseleeks),  flat-stemmed 


2OO  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

(Muehlenbeckia),  or  extremely  elongated  (climbers),  and 
others  with  compound  leaves  of  different  kinds,  some  lacking 
petioles  and  stipules,  and  others  showing  the  leading  systems  of 
phyllotaxy  well,  with  some  to  show  how  this  is  disregarded  in 
the  final  arrangement  of  the  leaf  blades.  Some  showing  the 
leaf  function  assumed  by  the  stem  may  be  added,  including  the 
extreme  case  in  the  common  "  smilax "  of  the  greenhouses. 
In  such  work  as  this,  the  use  of  a  good  scientific  greenhouse 
is  particularly  advantageous.  Valuable  plants  for  this  purpose, 
found  in  such  houses,  are  Ruscus  hypoglossum,  Colletia,  Ulex> 
Acacia,  the  latter  showing  the  phyllodes,  often  with  compound 
lower  leaves. 

Several  students  may  work  upon  one  plant,  and  they  are 
to  be  exchanged  occasionally.  Red  labels  may  be  placed 
upon  those  to  be  studied  in  a  greenhouse. 

Pedagogics.  —  This  exercise  is  for  training  in  morphology ; 
also  to  give  an  idea  of  different  modes  of  venation  and  com- 
pounding of  leaves,  and  the  main  systems  of  phyllotaxy ;  but 
especially  it  is  to  make  plain  how  great  may  be  the  changes 
in  size  and  shape  of  parts  while  they  retain  their  original 
nature,  a  subject  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  at  the  very 
foundation  of  morphology.  The  students  thus  trace  out  how 
the  leaves  alter  shape,  become  compound,  have  or  have  not 
petiole  and  stipules ;  how  the  stem  lengthens  or  shortens ; 
how  buds  multiply  or  are  suppressed,  etc.,  while  the  relative 
positions  of  the  parts  remain  unchanged.  Every  part  may  be 
a  centre  of  variation  in  form  and  size.  A  good  conception  to 
place  before  the  students  in  the  summary  of  their  studies  is 
this  :  to  imagine  each  part  indefinitely  elastic  and  compressible, 
so  that  any  of  them  may  be  either  greatly  drawn  out  or  re- 
duced, while  the  relationship  of  position  of  stem,  leaf,  and 
axillary  bud  remains  unchanged. 


PLASTICITY  OF   SHOOT  AND   ROOT  2OI 

Care  must  be  taken  not  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of 
the  node.  It  is  not  really  a  distinct  structure  which  inci- 
dentally produces  a  leaf,  but  it  is  the  place  where  the  leaf 
stands  and  hence  the  fibre-vascular  bundles  of  the  stem 
branch  and  anastamose,  giving  the  "  joint "  appearance  it 
often,  but  by  no  means  always,  presents.  The  "  phytomer " 
has  really  no  morphological  existence,  as  I  have  elsewhere 
pointed  out  (page  149),  but  is  only  an  incidental  result  of 
the  way  the  stem  is  built.  Moreover,  this  exercise  should 
make  plain  how  readily  the  stem  assumes  the  function  of  the 
leaf,  and  how  little  distinct  these  two  are  from  one  another. 
Hence  the  plant  is  best  described  as  made  up,  not  of  leaf, 
stem,  and  root,  but  of  shoot  and  root,  while  the  former  is 
further  differentiated  into  stem  and  leaf,  and  the  leaf  may 
be  yet  further  specialized  into  blade,  petiole,  stipules.  This 
relation  may  be  expressed  as  follows  :  — 

(Stem  r  Blade 

Higher  Plant]  bhoot    Leaf    Petiole 
I  Root   I  0. .     , 

I  Stipules 

(see,  also,  page  149).  The  main  thing  now  is  to  teach  the 
fact  of  the  existence  of  the  different  kinds  of  margin,  shape, 
etc.,  and  to  show  how  easily  these  are  derivable  one  from 
another,  and  to  give  some  idea  of  their  meaning.  Leaf  shape 
may  be  treated  in  a  lecture  or  demonstration  somewhat  after 
this  manner.  The  two  extremes  of  shape  possible  are  the 
circle  (accompanying  fullest  exposure  to  light)  and  the  line 
(where  crowded),  and  between  them  are  all  variations  of 
ellipses,  etc.  When  an  intermediate  form  is  borne  out  on  a 
long  petiole,  however,  more  material  is  condensed  near  the 
petioles,  and  it  gives  forms  like  the  ovate,  etc. ;  when  they  are 
crowded  together  on  a  short  stem  so  that  they  would  shade 


202    '  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

one  another,  or  when  without  petiole,  the  material  is  more 
condensed  toward  the  tip,  giving  the  obovate,  etc.  Leaflets 
may  be  told  from  leaves  by  absence  of  axillary  buds,  and  by 
their  not  originating  in  whorls  nor  spirally.  There  is  much 
value,  it  is  true,  in  drawing  and  naming  the  different  shapes 
of  leaves,  but  it  is  of  much  the  same  nature  as  the  fitting 
together  of  some  kinds  of  puzzles ;  and  the  same  time  and 
labor  may  be  spent  much  more  profitably  upon  doing  work 
which  is  distinctively  botanical  and  scientific.  Still,  if  the 
teacher  values  terminology  as  a  discipline,  here  is  the  place 
for  it. 

The  teacher  should  note  that  the  systems  of  phyllotaxy 
described  in  the  books  and  expressed  by  fractions  unques- 
tionably exist,  and  may  be  traced ;  and  a  certain  amount  of 
this  should  be  done,  enough  to  give  the  pupil  a  clear  idea  of 
its  principles ;  but  the  teacher  should  carefully  avoid  leading 
the  pupils  to  imagine  they  find  certain  fractions  which  theo- 
retically ought  to  be  present,  for  the  systems. are  very  easily 
thrown  out  by  twisting  of  the  stem  in  growth  or  by  injuries. 
Of  course,  the  phyllotaxy  has  very  little  to  do  with  the  ulti- 
mate position  of  the  blade;  it  holds  true  only  for  the  origin 
of  the  leaves  in  the  bud. 

The  students  will  be  able  to  do  but  little  with  the  ecological 
explanation  of  the  variations  of  shape,  etc.,  and  here  the 
teacher  must  give  assistance  when  he 'can.  It  is  better  to 
call  attention  to  such  questions,  even  if  they  cannot  be  solved, 
than  to  omit  them  altogether. 

In  making  observations  upon  the  plants,  the  students  should 
read  over  with  each  the  account  of  the  typical  plant  given 
under  28;  it  is  needful  for  them  to  have  their  attention 
directed  to  each  point,  or  they  will  miss  important  features. 

Experiment   No.  4  is  the  well-known,  valuable,  and  easy 


PLASTICITY  OF   SHOOT  AND   ROOT  203 

experiment  described  in  all  books  for  demonstrating  photo- 
synthesis. Select  a  living  potted  plant  with  large,  clear,  green 
leaves;  keep  it  two  nights  and  a  day  in  darkness  (to  empty 
leaves  of  starch),  then  bring  into  bright  sunlight,  covering  one 
leaf  above  and  below  with  tinfoil,  in  the  upper  fold  of  which 
a  figure  or  letter  has  been  cut ;  expose  this  all  day  to  bright 
light ;  at  evening  drop  this  leaf  into  nearly  boiling  water  for 
five  minutes  (to  kill  it  and  swell  starch),  then  place  it  in 
strong  alcohol  warmed  over  a  water  bath,  which  will  take 
out  the  green  in  a  few  minutes  and  leave  it  white,  or  it  may 
simply  be  left  in  alcohol  until  next  day.  Then  place  it  in  a 
solution  of  iodine  (made  by  dissolving  a  little  potassic  iodide 
in  water  and  adding  solid  iodine  until  it  is  of  a  dark  wine 
color),  which  turns  starch  dark  blue.  The  letter  or  other 
mark  exposed  'to  light  will  stand  out  dark  blue  on  a  white 
ground.  This  may  be  varied  in  many  ways,  as  described  in 
different  books. 

Experiment  No.  5  is  rather  difficult  to  demonstrate  well, 
and  the  only  practicable  method  is  that  of  collecting  in  an 
inverted  test-tube  over  water  the  bubbles  from  cut  shoots  of 
Anacharis,  Cabomba,  or  some  other  water  plant,  which  rise 
and  displace  the  water,  as  described  in  all  works  on  physi- 
ology. The  gas  must  then  be  tested,  which  may  be  done  by 
transferring  the  test-tube  to  a  very  small  vessel  (slipped 
under  it)  and  inserting  into  it  caustic  potash,  when  the 
rise  of  the  liquid  will  show  how  much  of  the  gas  is  carbon 
dioxide  (a  very  small  quantity).  If,  now,  enough  pyrogallic 
acid  is  added  to  make  with  the  potash  a  concentrated  solu- 
tion, the  further  rise  will  show  how  much  oxygen  (really 
nearly  all  of  the  remainder)  is  present.  This  test  is  difficult 
to  apply,  but  it  is  more  certain  than  the  usual  lighted  splinter, 
or  phosphorus,  test. 


2O4 


THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 


Experiment  No.  6.  —  Place  two  simi- 
lar plants  in  bell-jars  having  ground- 
glass  bottoms,  which  can  be  sealed 
with  vaseline  to  ground-glass  plates, 
as  in  Fig.  19.  In  the  saucer  in  one 
and  in  the  tube  in  its  cork  place  soda- 
lime  (an  absorber  of  CO2),  and  in  the 
other  place  simply  sawdust,  in  order  to 
have  all  conditions  alike  in  both  ex- 
cept for  the  absence  of  CO2,  and  its 
presence,  respectively.  After  about  two 
days'  exposure  to  bright  light,  the 
application  of  the  iodine  test  to  leaves 

FIG.   19.  -  Apparatus  for      ^  show  nQ  starch  ^  those  ^  soda. 
study  of  need  of  carbon 

dioxide  in  photosynthe-     lime,  and  abundance  in  the  other,  proving 
that  CO2  is  essential  to  photosynthesis. 


sis*    x  *• 


VIII.    Special   Morphology   and   Ecology  of   Shoot 
and   Root 

The  plasticity  of  root  and  shoot  (leaf  and  stem)  in 
form  and  structure  is  far  greater  than  is  shown  by 
the  examples  studied  by  you  under  Exercise  28,  and 
even  allows  of  their  modification  into  special  new 
organs  for  carrying  on  new  functions ;  to  this  end 
they  may  be  so  altered  in  shape,  size,  color  and  texture, 
as  to  disguise  completely  their  original  nature.  Their 
positions  relative  to  one  another  in  the  plant  usually 
remain  unchanged,  however,  and  this  forms  the  best 
guide  to  the  identity  of  the  disguised  parts. 


ECOLOGY  OF   SHOOT  AND   ROOT  2O5 

30.  In  the  ten  plants  selected,  what  is  the  exact  mor- 

phology and  probable  ecology  of  the  specialized 
structures  they  show  ? 

In  each  case  your  record  should  bring  out  clearly 
(in  the  drawings  when  possible) :  — 

(a)  The    evidence   which    proves   their   mor- 
phology. 

(&)  Reasons  for  your  view  of  their  ecology. 
It  will  aid  in  the  interpretation  of  doubtful  struc- 
tures if  you  will  recall  the  parts  or  members 
a  typical  Mesophyte  possesses.  The  drawings 
need  not  include  the  entire  plants,  but  only  the 
special  structures  and  their  connection  with 
other  parts. 

31.  In  a  sentence  explain  the  idea  you  attach  to  the 

word  "morphology";   also  to   "ecology";   and 
the  exact  relationship  between  them. 

Materials.  —  Living. plants  from  a  greenhouse  are  used,  or 
specimens  from  the  structural  herbarium  (see  page  106,  invalu- 
able for  this  work  when  living  materials  are  not  available)  or 
from  the  museum,  showing  highly  specialized  parts,  —  spines, 
tendrils,  pitchers,  tubers,  etc.  A  good  list  of  such  plants  is 
given  in  Gray's  "Structural  Botany,"  Chapter  III. 

If  at  the  right  season,  many  plants  of  the  native  flora  are 
obtainable  for  this  exercise. 

Much  use  can  well  be  made  here  of  good  figures,  such, 
particularly,  as  those  in  Kerner  and  Oliver's-"  Natural  History 
of  Plants,"  and  in  Schimper's  "  Pflanzengeographie." 


206  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

Pedagogics.  —  This  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  all  exer- 
cises. It  is  one  of  the  very  best  for  training  the  morphological 
instinct  and  also  for  giving  knowledge  of  ecology. 

The  students  should  be  able  in  nearly  all  cases,  using 
relative  position  as  the  main  guide,  to  work  out  with  certainty 
the  exact  morphological  origin  of  each  part,  whether  from 
root,  stipule,  etc.  It  will  be  impressed  upon  them  how  little 
the  shape,  size,  color,  etc.,  of  organs  has  to  do  with  their 
morphology.  Of  course  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  mor- 
phology involves  an  understanding  of  the  exact  steps  by  which 
the  new  organ  has  been  formed,  i.e.  in  the  case  of  a  pitcher, 
whether  the  leaf  has  infolded  and  united  its  edges  to  form  the 
cup,  or  (as  is  actually,  the  case)  whether  it  has  grown  up  as 
a  cup  from  the  start.  It  will  be  well  for  the  teacher  to  have 
some  one  or  two  series  of  specimens  illustrating  all  the  inter- 
mediate stages  of  a  particular  structure,  such,  for  example,  as 
a  Barberry  spine.  In  some  cases  the  student  will  be  able  to 
see  what  the  intermediate  steps  must  have  been ;  but  in  others 
this  is  impossible  without  a  study  of  embryology,  and  here 
(as  in  the  case  of  pitchers,  for  instance)  it  will  be  necessary 
for  the  teacher  to  supply  hints  and  some  information,  which 
students  will  be  prepared  to  appreciate  and  utilize  after  their 
minds  have  been  once  at  work  upon  the  problem.  It  should 
be  made  plain  to  them  that  the  root,  leaf,  stem,  etc.,  back 
to  which  they  reduce  everything,  are  not  in  themselves  irre- 
solvable elements,  but  simply  adaptive  structures  traceable 
back  to  still  simpler  origins,  i.e.  back  to  the  thallus. 

On  ecology  of  the  structures  they  can  do  little  better  than 
guess  at  uses ;  for,  removed  from  their  native  homes,  the  plants 
can  give  no  idea  of  their  habits.  Here  is  where  the  outdoor 
study  of  native  plants  through  field  excursions  is  most  valuable. 
In  ordinary  temperate  climates  the  ecological  adaptations  are 


ECOLOGY  OF  SHOOT  AND   ROOT  2O/ 

so  much  less  marked  than  in  tropical  and  desert  plants, 
that  it  will  be  necessary  to  use  some  of  the  latter  in  order 
to  give  anything  like  an  adequate  view  of  the  subject.  The 
teacher  must  then  supply  data  as  to  their  habits,  describing 
the  characters  of  the  desert,  the  tropical  jungles,  etc.,  illustrat- 
ing by  photographs  as  fully  as  possible.  The  teacher  must 
carefully  guard  against  dogmatism  in  ecology ;  at  the  best  this 
division  of  the  science  is  at  present  in  a  very  new  and 
undifferentiated  state,  and  even  among  specialists  much  of  it 
is1  but  guesswork.  A  complete  study  of  this  subject  involves 
also  an  examination  of  the  texture,  or  tissues ;  for  adaptation 
shows  itself  in  minutiae  as  well  as  in  large  features,  in  the 
suppression  of  some  tissues  and  excessive  development  of 
others ;  but  this  work  is  hardly  practicable  in  an  elementary 
course,  except  very  superficially. 

In  this  connection  the  teacher  should  give  fully  illustrated 
lectures  or  talks  upon  the  very  important  and  interesting 
subject  of  the  ecological  groups  of  plants,  —  the  Mesophytes, 
Halophytes,  etc.  These  groups  may  be  classified  thus,  follow- 
ing Warming  :  — 

A.  Groups  in  adaptation  to  physical  conditions. 

1.  Mesophytes,  Normal  Plants. 
(Trophophytes,   those   with    winter    defoliation. 
Schimper.) 

2.  Xerophytes,  Desert  Plants. 

3.  Halophytes,  Strand  Plants. 

4.  Hydrophytes,  Water  Plants. 

B.  Groups  in  adaptation  to  other  organisms. 

5.  Climbers.  9.  Insectivora. 

6.  Epiphytes.  10.  Myrmecophila. 

7.  Saprophytes.  n.  Symbionta. 

8.  Parasites. 


THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 


If  materials  are  available,  here  is  the  place  for  simple 
physiologic-ecologic  experiments  upon  such  topics  as  the 
sensitiveness  of  tendrils  to  contact,  operation  of  Drosera 
leaves,  etc. 


IX.   The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  Winter 
Buds 

In  climates  where  a  winter  stops  growth,  the  living 
buds  must  be  protected  over  that  time.  How  is  this 
accomplished  ? 

32.  Study  the  Horse-chestnut  twigs,  particularly  the 
buds.  Recall  your  knowledge  of  how  the  buds 
of  this  tree  develop  in  the  spring. 

(1)  What   markings   does   the   twig  show? 

What  is  the  meaning  of  each  ? 

(2)  What  positions  have  the  buds,  and  why  ? 

(3)  What  sizes  have  the  buds,  and  why? 

(4)  What  shapes  have  the  buds,  and  why  ? 

(5)  What  colors  have  the  buds,  and  why? 

(6)  What  is  the  exact  structure  of  the  buds  ? 

(7)  What  is   the   morphological   nature   of 

each  part? 

(8)  What  is  the  function  of  each  part? 

(9)  What  structures  have  the  buds  in  com- 

mon with  unprotected  summer  buds, 
and  what  accessory  to  their  protection 
over  winter  ? 


MORPHOLOGY  AND  ECOLOGY  OF  WINTER  BUDS        2OQ 

Your  record  should  express  most  of  these  facts  in 
an  annotated  drawing,  the  remainder  in  notes. 

33.  Study  similarly  the  Tulip-tree  twig. 

34.  Study  also  the  others  supplied. 

Outside    of    the    laboratory,    examine    as   large   a 
series  of  twigs  and  buds  as  possible. 

35.  Prepare  a  synoptical  essay  (not  over  three  hundred 

words)  on  the  General  Morphology  and  Ecology 
of  the  Higher  Plant. 

Materials.  —  These  are  abundant  everywhere;  in  place  of 
Horse-chestnut  (the  best  I  know)  any  tree  with  very  large 
terminal  buds  will  do,  especially  if  containing  a  flower  cluster, 
as  Walnut,  Hickory.  The  bud-scales  of  the  Tulip-tree  are 
modified  stipules,  hence  giving  a  fine  problem  in  morphology ; 
Magnolia  is  the  same;  Beech  has  the  same  but  less  plainly. 
But  any  large  buds  of  shrubs  are  good.  For  comparison,  some 
unprotected  buds  of  greenhouse  plants  are  needed. 

Pedagogics.  —  This  is  one  of  the  most  useful  and  satisfactory 
of  all  botanical  exercises.  The  objects  are  large,  fairly  definite, 
and  the  pupil  has  data  enough  to  enable  him  to  discover  for 
himself  the  meaning  of  nearly  every  feature  of  structure  and 
ecology.  It  is  particularly  good  for  training  in  observation 
and  in  morphological  reasoning,  and  in  relation  of  structure 
to  use  (ecology).  It  is  most  important  to  recall  to  the  students 
the  general  habit  and  mode  of  growth  of  the  Horse-chestnut, 
helping  by  suggestions  when  memory  fails,  and  leading  one 
member  of  the  class  to  aid  another,  until  it  has  been  well 
worked  out. 

Following  are  features  they  should  work  out  themselves  :  — 

Under  Exercise  32  (i),  the  lenticels  (whose  function  as 
p 


2IO  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

openings  for  respiration  answering  to  stomata  will  need  to  be 
explained  to  them,  after  they  have  tried  to  think  of  a  use)  ; 
the  leaf  scars,  with  fibre-vascular  bundles  showing  in  number 
answering  to  the  number  of  the  leaflets;  rings  of  bud-scale 
scars,  with  a  year's  growth  between  the  sets;  and  the  old 
scars  of  fallen  flower  clusters. 

Under  (2),  the  buds  are  terminal  and  axillary. 

Under  (3),  largest  buds  are  toward  tip,  because  the  terminal 
has  a  flower-cluster,  others  not,  and  others  are  larger  toward 
tip  because  there  is  more  room  there  and  more  light  for  leaves 
later ;  lower  are  dormant,  and  even  buried  in  bark ;  ask 
whether  every  leaf  scar  has  bud  in  axil. 

Under  (4),  the  shape  is  necessary  to  hold  the  many  long 
leaves  folded  up  as  compactly  as  possible. 

Under  (5),  brown,  because  there  is  no  reason  for  bright 
color,  and  the  bud  scales  take  the  color  of  composition  of  cork 
which  happens  to  be  brown. 

Under  (6),  dissection  of  a  whole  bud  is  needed,  and  draw- 
ings of  a  bud  laid  open,  and  of  a  vertical  section,  —  or  else  of 
individual  leaves,  scales,  etc.,  and  a  flower  cluster. 

Under  (7),  leaf  origin  of  bud  scales  is  shown  by  their 
phyllotaxy,  their  anatomy,  and  sometimes  by  transitions  to 
normal  leaves ;  really  they  are  the  petioles,  not  entire  leaves ; 
in  Tulip-tree,  they  may  readily  be  discovered  to  be  stipules,  — 
a  beautiful  case  of  clear  morphology  which  all  should  be  made 
to  work  out.  The  wool  is  an  epidermal  outgrowth  from  leaves. 

Under  (8),  the  scales  form  a  protecting  box ;  resin  prevents 
rain  from  soaking  through  between  them ;  the  wool  does  not 
keep  out  cold  altogether,  but  it  prevents  injurious  suddenness 
in  changes  of  temperature. 

Under  (9),  the  vegetative  point  with  young  leaves  is  in  com- 
mon with  the  others ;  scales  and  wool  are  additional. 


MINUTE  ANATOMY  OF   ROOT  AND   SHOOT          211 

X.   The  Minute  Anatomy  of  Root  and  Shoot 

36.  In  the  Balsam,  after  observing  the  features  of 
the  gross  anatomy,  study  carefully  the  minute 
anatomy  of  the  shoot  and  root. 

I.  The  epidermal  or  protective  system. 

(1)  Is  it  continuous  and   uniform  over  the 

entire  plant  ? 

(2)  Is   it   removable    from    the    underlying 

tissues  ? 

(3)  Is  it  smooth  or  has  it  appendages? 

(4)  Do  you  find  stomata  or  any  equivalent 

for  them? 

(5)  Is  there  any  green  in  the  epidermis  ? 

II.  The  cortical  or  starch-making  system. 

(1)  Is  it  continuous  over  the  entire  plant? 

(2)  Is    it    evenly   distributed,    and,    if    not, 

where  is  the  green  most  intense  ? 
Ill    The  fibre-vascular  or  conducting  and  strength- 
ening system. 

(1)  Is  it  continuous  through  the  entire  plant  ? 
Place  a  spray  in  the  red  liquid  to  aid 

in  tracing  its  course. 

(2)  In  what  order  are  the  bundles  arranged 

in  the  stem  ? 

(3)  How  are  they  arranged  in  the  petioles  ? 

(4)  How   are  they   arranged    in    the   leaf? 

(5)  How  do  they  end  in  the  leaf  ? 


212  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

IV.   The  storage  system. 

All  of  these  systems  are  to  be   worked   out   with 
simple  lens  and  scalpel. 

37.  In  the  young  woody  stem,  what  systems  may  be 

distinguished  ? 

38.  Construct    diagrams    showing    by   colors    the  dis- 

tribution  of   tissues  in  the  plant  through  shoot 
and  root. 

Materials.  —  Balsam  {Impatiens  sultani)  is  easy  to  raise, 
and  very  good  for  this  use  because  of  its  translucent  stem, 
which  renders  the  fibro-vascular  system  very  distinct,  though 
the  distribution  of  its  green  tissue  in  the  stem  is  not  as  sharply 
differentiated  as  usual.  Coleus  is  also  very  good,  and  almost 
any  herbaceous  plant  will  do.  For  Exercise  37  any  young 
woody  twigs  are  good,  but  those  with  a  greenish  bark  are  best. 

Pedagogics.  —  One  of  the  most  useful  of  exercises  upon  an 
important  phase  of  anatomy  (i.e.  the  contact  of,  and  transition 
from,  the  visible  to  the  invisible)  commonly  overlooked.  It  is 
extremely  good  for  training  in  minute  observation,  and  also  as 
knowledge,  for  it  gives  a  good  comprehensive  idea  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  tissues  and  of  the  relation  of  invisible  to  visible 
features  likely  to  be  missed  in  an  exclusively  microscopic 
study.  'Far  more  of  minute  anatomy  can  be  traced  out  with 
the  hand  lens  than  is  commonly  supposed.  It  also  gives,  far 
better  than  a  microscopic  study,  an  understanding  of  the 
general  physiological  uses  of  the  different  tissue  systems.  For 
best  work  on  this  subject  the  students  should  previously  in  some 
demonstration  or  lecture  have  had  their  attention  called  to 
the  general  physiological  conditions  which  plants  must  take 
account  of,  —  protection  against  drying  up,  against  animal 


MINUTE  ANATOMY  OF  ROOT  AND  SHOOT 


213 


enemies,  exposure  of  much  green  tissue  to  light  for  starch 
making,  aeration  of  the  interior  cells  to  allow  them  to  breathe, 
conduction  of  raw  sap  to  the  leaf  and  of  the  food  substances 
away,  strength  to  resist  winds  and  other  strains,  etc.  With 
all  these  needs  and  functions  fresh  in  mind,  the  students 
should  be  set  to  work  to  find  out  how  they  are  arranged  for 
in  the  plant. 


FlG.  20.  —  Diagram  of  distribution  of  tissues  in  a  typical  shoot,  upper  in  longi- 
tudinal section,  lower  in  cross.  Outer  line  =  epidermal  system ;  radiating 
lines  =  cortical  system  ;  crossed  lines  =  storage  system  ;  spiral  lines  =  fibro- 
vascular  system.  On  these  systems  see  page  219. 

Important  points  to  be  brought  out,  with  their  reasons,  are  : 
the  lenticels  on  the  stem  (which  are  the  successors,  structurally 
and  physiologically,  of  the  stomata  of  the  younger  tissues)  ; 
the  greater  intensity  of  the  green  on  the  upper,  i.e.  the  best 
lighted,  surface  of  the  leaf;  the  branching  of  the  bundles  at  the 
nodes,  and  the  running  of  one  branch  into  the  leaf  and  of 
another  up  the  stem  ;  the  fact  that  the  bundles  form  a  ring  in 
the  stem  (note  the  cambium,  which,  with  the  vegetative  points, 


214  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

forms  a  growth  system)  and  that  one,  two,  or  three  run  out 
through  the  petiole  and  branch  profusely,  ending  either  as  very 
small  veinlets  anastomosing,  or  else  each  ending  abruptly  in  a 
small  green  area  (shows  well  in  Asarum)  ;  the  tapering  of  the 
veins  regularly  and  for  mechanical  reasons.  With  eosin  or 
safranin  prepare  tumblers  rilled  with  red  dye  and  place  cut 
shoots  in  them ;  in  a  few  minutes  the  fibre-vascular  system  will 
be  completely  stained.  Slides  and  covers  should  be  given  to 
allow  students  to  mount  all  sections  in  water.  Excellent  thin 
sections  can  be  made  with  their  scalpels,  which  they  may 
sharpen  on  the  laboratory  whetstone  provided  for  the  purpose. 
A  diagram  like  that  called  for  in  Exercise  38  is  shown  in 
Fig.  20,  where  the  colors  are  represented  by  special  shading. 

XI.     The    Cellular    Anatomy    of    the    Shoot  —  the 
Leaf  in   Particular 

In  studying  cellular  anatomy,  one  is  dealing  directly 
with  cells. 

39.  What  is  the  structure  of  a  typical  plant  cell? 
Answer    by    a    study   of    the    living    cell    in    the 

stamen-hair  of  Tradescantia.  For  this  the 
compound  microscope  is  needed,  the  use  of 
which  will  be  explained  to  you. 

40.  What   is   the   cellular   structure   of   the  protective 

system  of  a  typical  leaf  ? 

Answer  by  a  study  of  the  epidermis  of  Trades- 
cantia, which  may  be  peeled  off  after  a  study 
of  it  in  position. 

Notice  particularly  the  guard  cells  and  stomata. 


CELLULAR  ANATOMY  OF  THE  LEAF  21  f 

41.  What  is  the  cellular  structure  of  a  typical  leaf? 

(1)  What   is   the    structure   of    the   starch- 

making  system  ? 

(2)  Of   the   conducting  and   strengthening 

system  ? 

(3)  Of  the  aeration  system? 

(4)  Of  the  protective  system? 

Answer  by  a  study  of  the  Rubber-plant  (Ficus 
elastica)  leaf.  Observe  carefully  the  characters 
of  the  leaf  as  a  whole ;  then  cut  thin  cross- 
sections  with  your  scalpels  and  compare  with 
the  prepared  sections. 

All  of  the  systems  should  be  represented  in  a 
single  drawing. 

42.  It  is  a  well-known  fact   that  leaves  give  off  into 

the  air  considerable  quantities  of  water.  It  is 
desirable  to  measure  exactly  how  great  the 
quantity  is  for  an  ordinary  plant  under  normal 
conditions,  and  also  how  the  rate  of  this  giv- 
ing-off,  or  transpiration,  is  affected  by  changes 
in  the  external  conditions.  To  determine  it,  the 
most  exact  method  is  weighing,  and  to  employ 
this,  it  is  necessary  to  use  a  potted  plant 
in  which  all  evaporation  is  prevented,  except 
that  through  the  leaves  and  stem.  This  has 
been  done  in  Experiment  7. 

(i)  What  amount  of  water  may  be  given  off 
by  a  plant  under   normal   conditions, 


2l6  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

and  how  is  the  rate  affected  by  dif- 
ferent external  influences?  Answer 
by  Experiment  7. 

(2)  What   structures   in   the   leaf    are  con- 

cerned in  this  process  of  transpira- 
tion ? 

(3)  What  is  the  use  of  transpiration  to  the 

plant  ? 

Materials.  —  For  study  of  living  plant  cells,  the  best  object 
known  to  me  is  the  stamen-hair  of  Tradescantia  virginica, 
which  is  easily  obtained  in  gardens  in  late  spring  and  summer, 
but  not  at  other  times,  unless  the  plants  are  cut  back  in  the 
spring,  when  they  may  be  made  to  flower  in  the  late  fall ;  and 
if  covered  at  night  by  a  frame  and  sash,  they  may  be  kept  in 
good  condition  until  near  December  ist.  T.  pilosa,  common 
in  greenhouses,  gives  hairs  less  excellent  but  serviceable.  The 
hairs  should  be  placed  in  water  on  a  slide  under  a  cover  glass. 
Another  classic  object  for  the  purpose  is  Nitella  (or  Chara), 
which  may  be  found  in  streams  in  summer  and  kept  in  aquaria 
all  winter,  but  they  are  far  less  typical  than  Tradescantia. 
The  latter  is  particularly  valuable  because  it  shows  not  only 
a  typical  cell  of  the  higher  plants  reduced  to  about  the 
lowest  terms,  i.e.  nucleus,  cytoplasm,  vacuoles,  and  wall,  but 
also  shows  the  cytoplasm  in  active  circulatory  movement. 
Its  simple  structure  makes  it  very  good  to  begin  with,  for  in 
studying  other  cells  later  the  student  has  little  or  nothing  to 
unlearn,  since  others  are  mostly  like  it  with  but  additional  parts. 
Good  living  plant  cells  may  be  obtained  also  from  many  epi- 
dermal hairs.  Of  course,  knowledge  of  the  cell  should  be 
broadened  by  observation  of  mounted  as  well  as  other  living 


CELLULAR  ANATOMY  OF  THE  LEAF  2 1/ 

cells,  and  by  the  study  of  good  figures  from  books.  For 
epidermis  the  best  object  is  the  Tradescantia  pilosa  or  Wan- 
dering Jew,  common  in  greenhouses,  particularly  the  leaves 
with  a  purple  color  on  the  under  side.  By  holding  these 
up  to  the  light  the  stomata  (guard  cells)  may  be  seen 
with  a  lens,  showing  green  against  the  purple,  and  the  epi- 
dermis easily  strips  off;  it  should  be  placed  in  water  under 
a  cover  glass. 

For  the  entire  internal  anatomy,  leaves  of  India  Rubber 
Plant  {Ficus  elastic  a)  are  very  good,  and  are  easy  to  section 
fairly  well  with  scalpels ;  they  should  be  cut  across  the  bundles 
which  run  out  from  the  midrib.  But  prepared  and  mounted 
microtome  sections  are  necessary  for  the  full  demonstration  of 
cellular  anatomy.  Such  sections  show  the  tissues  in  great 
completeness  and  beauty.  The  Ficus  leaf  cannot  well  be  used 
for  the  epidermis  and  stomata,  for  in  it  these  are  far  from  typical. 

Pedagogics.  —  This  exercise  is  to  teach  the  structure  of  the 
plant  cell,  the  use  of  the  microscope,  and  the  nature  of  the 
cellular  anatomy  of  the  higher  plants,  and  also  is  for  training 
in  observation  of  minute  but  definite  objects.  The  subject  is 
difficult  for  beginners,  but  is  altogether  too  important  to  be 
omitted  from  a  well-proportioned  course. 

In  teaching  the  use  of  the  microscope,  its  proper  function 
as  simply  an  aid  to  vision,  and  not  as  a  tool  with  mysterious 
properties  of  its  own,  should  be  made  plain  from  the  start. 
This  is  best  done  by  leading  students  to  see  all  possible  with 
the  naked  eye  ;  —  when  the  limit  of  this  is  reached,  then  simple 
lenses  are  to  be  used,  —  and  when  limit  of  these  is  reached 
then  low  powers  of  the  microscope  ;  certainly  all  possible  of 
cellular  anatomy  should  first  be  brought  out  without  the  micro- 
scope, and  they  should  not  take  to  its  use  until  it  is  unavoid- 
able^ To  learn  how  to  focus,  move  objects,  etc.,  the  low  power 


218  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

and  bits  of  printed  paper  on  slides  are  good.  Every  needful 
operation  of  placing  the  stamen-hairs  on  the  slides,  peeling 
epidermis,  etc.,  should  be  done  by  the  students ;  and  when 
sections  must  be  cut  for  them  on  the  microtome,  they  should 
have  sections  of  their  own  also  before  them,  so  they  may  know 
just  what  the  former  represent. 

Naturally,  along  with  Exercise  39  a  great  deal  of  description 
of  function,  etc.,  must  be  given,  and  from  the  start  the  fact  that 
the  cell  is  essentially  the  protoplasm,  and  the  wall  but  a 
passive  skeleton  or  box,  should  be  made  plain,  as  also  that  the 
movement  in  Tradescantia  is  unusually  rapid.  Parts  they  can 
see  are,  —  the  circulating  cytoplasm,  full  of  food  granules,  the 
nucleus,  particularly  important  in  reproduction,  the  vacuoles, 
filled  with  cell  sap,  forming  a  reservoir  of  water  and  dissolved 
food  substances,  and  the  containing  wall. 

Under  Exercise  40,  the  precise  relation  of  guard  cells  to  sur- 
rounding cells  is  important  as  a  point  of  observation  ;  also  that 
nuclei  can  be  seen  in  epidermal  cells,  also  that  guard  cells 
contain  chlorophyll.  This  is  particularly  good  as  an  exercise 
in  observation.  Students  must  be  led  to  interpret  the  tissues 
in  terms  of  cells ;  i.e.  protoplasmic  masses  with  walls,  from 
which,  later,  protoplasm  may  be  withdrawn. 

Under  Exercise  41,  the  drawings  should  show  relation  of 
structures  as  magnified  to  those  not ;  i.e.  it  is  better  to  have 
students  learn  to  represent  just  what  place  their  most  highly 
magnified  section  has  in  the  leaf,  as  shown  on  a  piece  of  the 
leaf  un magnified.  Very  important  is  the  tracing  of  the  aeration 
(intercellular)  system,  its  continuity  through  the  leaf,  and  its 
connection  with  the  stomata.  The  palisade  layers  should  be 
represented  as  cells  —  not  as  a  shaded  green  layer.  All  of  the 
tissues  should  be  studied  from  the  point  of  view  of  function, 
as  a  basis  for  which  their  knowledge  of  the  conditions  of 


CELLULAR  ANATOMY  OF  THE  LEAF  2IQ 

weather,  strain,  light,  physiological  work  of  the  leaf,  should 
be  recalled  to  them  and  further  illustrated  and  explained. 
The  tissues  should  be  studied  as  protective  system,  starch- 
making,  strengthening,  conducting,  aeration,  etc.,  to  which  the 
names  epidermis,  parenchyma,  sclerenchyma,  ducts,  sieve 
tubes,  and  intercellular  spaces  may  later  be  added.  In  the 
drawings  the  cells  must  be  represented  as  complete  structures 
individually,  not  simply  by  uniform  shading.  Students  should 
be  led  to  view  the  leaf,  not  as  a  mass  of  cells  put  together, 
but  as  a  mass  of  living  substance  separated  into  cells,  flattened 
to  expose  chlorophyll  to  light,  and  needing  protection  against 
drying  up,  a  strengthening  framework,  two  sets  of  conducting 
tubes,  exposure  of  all  living  cells  to  oxygen  for  respiration,  etc. 
Important,  too,  is  the  mode  of  combination  of  tissues,  —  how 
they  are  arranged  to  interfere  as  little  as  possible  with  one 
another's  function. 

Something  of  the  excretion  system  may  be  made  out  in  the 
fine  large  crystal  cells  (cystoliths)  in  this  leaf. 

This  work  will  require  at  least  ten  hours  from  the  average 
student,  and  should  have  more.  It  is  worth  it. 

Naturally,  they  should  be  shown  other  leaves,  and  especially 
the  mode  of  ending  of  the  fibre-vascular  bundles  in  the  areas 
of  green  tissue,  which  is  perfectly  plain  to  the  naked  eye  in 
Asarum  leaves,  and  with  a  lens  in  Cabbage.  Also  forms  of 
trichomes,  hairs,  etc.,  which  belong  with  the  protective  system, 
should  be  shown.  These  should  be  in  the  structural  herbarium. 

The  systems  of  tissues  may  well  be  treated  as  follows  :  — 

Protective  —  epidermis,  cork. 
Starch-making  —  cortex. 
Strengthening  —  sclerenchyma. 
Growth  —  cambium  and  vegetative  points. 


22O 


THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 


Conducting : 


f  raw  materials  —  ducts. 


food  materials  —  sieve  tubes. 
Aeration  —  intercellular  passages  and  stomata. 
Excretion  —  special  crystal  cells. 
Storage  —  pith,  medullary  rays  (and  cortex  in  roots). 

Experiment  No.  7.  —  Prepare  a  plant  as  shown  in  Fig.  21, 
i.e.  place  it  in  a  glass  jar  and  cover  with  dentist's  thin  sheet 

rubber,  tightly  tied  both  to 
jar  and  to  plant,  but  pierced 
by  a  thistle  tube  which  is 
closed  by  a  piece  of  the  rub- 
ber (or  cork)  that  can  be 
removed.  All  water  must 
then  come  out  through  the 
leaves  and  stem.  Place 
the  plant  on  the  scale  pan 
of  a  good  balance  (the 
Harvard  trip-scale,  used  in 
elementary  courses  in  phys- 
ics, is  good),  and  weigh 
it  at  intervals.  Add  water 
through  the  tube,  carefully 
weighing  the  plant  before 
and  after,  to  find  the 
amount  added ;  it  is  very 
essential  to  the  health  of 
the  plant  not  to  add  too 

FIG.   2i.- Method  of  preparing  a  plant  for  much        nd      tMs     can      be 
transpiration  experiments  by  weighing.  X£. 

judged      either      by     the 

amount  given  off,  or  by  the  appearance  of  the  earth  in  the 
pot,  which  should  be  allowed  to  become  nearly  dry  between 


CELLULAR  ANATOMY   OF  THE   STEM  221 

each  watering.  By  placing  the  plant  under  different  con- 
ditions of  light,  heat,  etc.,  the  effect  of  those  conditions  upon 
transpiration  may  be  determined.  The  larger  the  plant,  i.e. 
the  more  leaf  surface,  the  better,  since  the  weighings  may  then 
be  relatively  more  accurate.  Instead  of  the  glass  jar  the 
plant  may  simply  be  wrapped  in  rubber,  but  as  this  does  not 
permit  the  earth  to  be  seen,  there  is  danger  of  giving  too  much 
or  too  little  water,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  results  of  the 
experiment.  There  are  many  other  ways  described  in  various 
books,  of  measuring  the  amount  of  water  removed  in  transpira- 
tion, but  none  are  so  satisfactory  as  weighing. 

Transpiration  is  of  great  importance,  both  physiologically 
and  ecologically,  and  should  be  discussed  fully  by  the  teacher. 
As  in  other  experiments,  as  much  of  the  work  as  possible 
should  be  done  by  the  students.  The  fact  that  it,  like 
photosynthesis,  has  no  equivalent  in  the  animal  economy, 
should  be  emphasized.  Probably  its  chief  use  to  the  plant 
is  to  enable  it  to  lift  mineral  matters  from  the  soil  into  the 
leaves  where  they  are  needed. 


XII.    The    Cellular   Anatomy   of  the    Shoot  —  the 
Stem  in  Particular 

43.  What  is  the  cellular  structure,  and  what  tissue 
systems  are  represented  in  typical  stems  of 
the  higher  plants  ?  Since  stems  fall,  as  to  their 
structure,  into  two  distinct  types,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  select  representatives  of  each. 

What  is  the  cellular  anatomy  of  the  Corn  stem  ? 

\Vhat  is  the  distribution  of  its  tissue  systems  ? 


222  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Your  record  should  show  the  exact  relation  be- 
tween the  gross  and  the  cellular  anatomy. 

44.  What  is  the  cellular  anatomy  of  the  Aristolochia 

stem  ? 
Answer  as  in  the  preceding. 

45.  Construct   two    diagrams   showing    by   colors    the 

homologies  of  the  tissues  in  the  two  stems. 

46.  With    the    Aristojochia    stem    compare    a     piece 

of    Oak    wood.       What     are    the    homologous 
.     parts  ? 

47.  The   phenomena    accompanying    growth    in    size, 

and  how  it  is  affected  by  external  conditions, 
are  best  manifest  in  stems.  To  study  it  properly 
we  must  provide  some  method  of  measuring 
its  amount,  and  preferably  some  method  that 
will  be  self-recording.  This  is  accomplished 
by  the  auxanometer  used  in  Experiment  8. 

Under  ordinary  conditions,  at  what  time  in  the 
twenty-four  hours  does  an  ordinary  plant  grow 
most  in  length  ?  Answer  by  Experiment  8. 

In  what  way  does  temperature  affect  rate  of 
growth  ? 

Materials.  —  Indian  Corn  stems  under  i  cm.  diameter,  put 
in  formaline  in  summer,  are  needed.  Aristolochia  sipho,  the 
"  Dutchman's  Pipe,"  grows  over  porches  in  most  towns,  and 
is  the  classic  stem  for  the  purpose,  showing  with  the  greatest 
clearness,  in  comparison  with  the  Corn,  the  relation  between  the 
exogenous  and  endogenous  composition  of  the  stem. 


CELLULAR  ANATOMY  OF  THE   STEM  223 

Pedagogics.  —  Much  as  in  the  preceding.  For  both  stems 
it  is  best  to  use  prepared  and  mounted  sections,  which  show 
with  perfect  clearness  the  cellular  character  of  all  the  systems. 
These  should  be  given  students,  of  course,  only  after  they  have 
made  out  all  possible  with  their  own  rougher  hand-made  ones. 
Most  of  the  work  must  be  done  with  cross-sections,  as  the 
longitudinal  can  be  made  to  show  very  little  unless  cut  ex- 
tremely thin ;  but  students,  after  some  instruction,  soon  learn 
to  recognize  the  tissues  from  a  single  view. 

In  Corn,  as  matter  of  observation,  the  companion  cells  at 
angles  of  the  sieve  tubes  should  not  be  missed. 

In  Aristolochia,  the  sclerenchyma  ring,  continuous  when 
young,  and  broken  by  expansion  of  stem  later  (when  the  stem 
twines  and  needs  it  no  longer  for  support),  should  be  noted. 
•This  is  a  particularly  easy  stem  for  tracing  the  development 
of  the  systems  of  tissues,  which  may  be  done  by  sections 
at  intervals  along  the  stem.  From  the  Aristolochia,  through 
young  Oak  twigs,  the  transition  may  be  followed  from 
the  distinct  bundles  of  young  stems  to  the  woody  mass 
of  older  stems,  in  which  the  separate  bundles  are  lost. 
Note  homologies  of  the  parts  of  the  young  twigs  and  old 
wood,  particularly  in  the  annual  rings  and  the  medullary 
rays,  which  latter  in  the  Oak  form  the  shining  plates  sought 
for  in  "quartered"  Oak.  In  Aristolochia,  note  morphology 
of  pith,  and  of  medullary  rays  as  simply  in  origin  the  paren- 
chyma between  the  bundles.  Also  note  usual  identity  of 
starch-making  system  and  cortex.  Trace  here  homology 
with  the  leaf,  and  how  the  green  parenchyma  of  the  leaf 
answers  to  cortex.  Note  how,  in  the  older  stem,  epidermis 
is  replaced  by  cork  layers. 

Exercise  45  is  most  valuable ;  it  will  impress  the  real  rela- 
tion of  the  two  types  of  stems;  there  will  be  a  difficulty  with 


224 


THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 


the  cortex  and  pith  in  Corn,  which  are  not  separable,  and 
colors  must  merge  one  into  the  other.  Most  important  is 
the  practice  of  recognizing  the  different  tissues  with  naked 
eye  or  hand  lens ;  much  histology  without  a  microscope,  is 
possible,  and  important  in  many  features  of  adaptation. 

It  will  be   profitable   to   examine    cross-sections   of   other 
young  twigs  and  different  kinds  of  wood. 

Experiment  No.  8.  —  For  this,  some  form  of  auxanometer  or 
growth-measurer,  is  needed,  of  which  there  is  a  great  variety 

of  forms.  Only  a  self-recording 
form  is  really  useful,  and  those 
on  the  market  are  very  expen- 
sive. A  fairly  satisfactory  form 
can,  however,  be  made  as  fol- 
lows, at  a  cost  of  about  $2  (see 
Fig.  22).  Buy  a  dollar  clock,  four 
inches  in  diameter,  and  remove 
hands,  face,  and  surplus  wheels 
until  only  the  steel  spindle,  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch  long,  stands 
up  above  the  works.  Have  turned 
on  a  lathe  a  cylinder  of  hard 
wood  one  foot  long  and  an  inch 
in  diameter,  in  one  end  of  which 
a  hole  somewhat  more  slender 
than  the  spindle  of  the  clock  is 
turned,  truly  centred.  The  cyl- 
inder may  now  be  forced  gently 
down  on  the  spindle,  on  which 
it  will  revolve  evenly  once  an 

hour.  Have  turned  also  from  good  maple  a  double  wheel 
like  that  shown  in  the  figure ;  the  outer  wheel  is  grooved. 


FIG.  22. —  A  recording  auxa- 
nometer.   x  |. 


CELLULAR  ANATOMY  OF  THE  STEM  225 

and  through  the  common  axis  of  both  a  fin.e,  smooth  hole 
is  turned  by  which  the  wheel  will  revolve  with  very  little 
friction  on  a  clean  new  needle  fixed  horizontally  by  solder 
or  sealing-wax  to  a  firm  horizontal  support.  From  the  very 
tip  of  the  stem  to  be  studied  a  fine  silk  thread,  thoroughly 
waxed  to  prevent  absorption  of  moisture,  is  to  be  run  several 
times  around  the  small  wheel  to  which  its  end  is  fastened 
by  a  small  drop  of  glue.  A  similar  thread  is  to  be  run 
around  the  large  wheel  and  fastened,  while  the  free  end 
carries  a  pen  pressing  against  a  paper  on  the  cylinder.  This 
paper  should  be  smooth,  put  on  the  cylinder  while  mois- 
tened, and  gummed  by  the  free  edge,  so  that  when  dry  it 
will  fit  without  wrinkles.  The  pen  is  to  be  made  from  a  small 
piece  of  slender  glass  tubing  bent  into  a  curve  so  that  both 
ends,  carefully  smoothed,  rest  against  the  paper ;  but  one  of 
them  is  drawn  into  a  capillary  point  and  bent  and  filed  so 
it  rests  at  right  angles  to  the  paper.  A  chronograph  ink 
should  be  placed  in  this  pen,  on  which  weight  enough  should 
be  placed  to  make  the  wheel  turn  as  the  plant  grows.  As  the 
plant  grows  the  pen  will  descend,  marking  a  spiral  line  on  the 
paper,  and  the  distance  apart  of  the  spirals  where  they  cross 
any  given  vertical  line  will  give  the  exact  amount  of  growth 
per  hour,  magnified,  of  course,  just  in  proportion  to  the  rela- 
tive sizes  of  the  wheels.  Half-hour  periods  may  be  found  by 
ruling  two  vertical  lines  at  180°  apart,  and  then  removing  the 
paper  on  one  side  between  them,  bringing  the  vertical  lines 
together.  Of  course,  the  paper  with  the  record  may  be  re- 
moved from  the  cylinder  for  preservation. 

Rapidly  growing  flower  stalks  of  such  plants  as  Hyacinth 

are  very  good  for  this  purpose,  but  any  parts  that  are  growing 

vertically  may  be  used.     Variations  in  temperature  can  easily 

be  effected  where  there  is  a  Wardian  case ;  or  even  by  leav- 

Q 


226  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

ing  windows  open  at  night,  etc.  In  case  there  is  not  room 
under  the  wheels  for  both  clock  and  plant,  the  latter  must  be 
placed  to  one  side,  and  the  thread  run  over  some  smooth 
support,  such  as  a  clean  screw-eye,  as  shown  in  the  figure. 

Another  physiological  topic  of  much  importance  that  may 
well  be  taken  up  here  is  that  of  the  autonomous  movements, 
particularly  circumnutation,  of  stems.  This  subject  is  easy  of 
experiment,  and  particularly  good  directions  are  given  by 
Darwin  and  Acton  in  their  "  Practical  Physiology."  The  glass 
plate  on  which  records  are  to  be  taken  may  be  placed  at  any 
desired  height  by  supporting  it  upon  three  legs  in  which 
grooves  to  hold  the  plate  are  sawn  at  different  heights ;  the 
legs  are  held  to  the  plate  by.  a  wire  bound  around  them  all. 
Particularly  instructive  in  this  study  are  the  hypocotyls  of 
seeds  just  bursting  from  the  ground.  The  well-nigh  universal 
occurrence  of  circumnutation  movements  is  a  point  of  con- 
siderable value  as  knowledge. 


XIII.     The  Cellular  Anatomy  of  the  Root 

48.  What  is  the  cellular  anatomy  of  a  typical  root  ? 
Answer  from  a  study  of  the  specimen  supplied. 

49.  What  is  the  external  structure  of  the  young  roots 

of  the  Radish  ? 
In  particular,  what  is  the  structure,   distribution, 

and  mode  of  connection  of  the  root  hairs  with 

the  root? 
How  much  of  the  internal  structure  of  the  tip  can 

you   see   with  your   lenses  ?     (Something  more 

will  be   shown   if   you  soak  the  tip  for  a  few 


CELLULAR  ANATOMY  OF  THE   ROOT  227 

minutes  in  strong  potash,  then  remove  and 
wash  it  and  mount  it  on  a  slide  in  water.) 
50.  From  observation  of  the  appearance  of  the  young 
roots  with  their  remarkable  development  of  hairs, 
it  would  seem  probable  that  these  form  the  struc- 
ture for  absorbing  liquids  into  the  plant,  and 
experiments  have  proven  that  this  is  the  case. 
Since,  however,  observation  proves  that  the  hairs 
and  the  root  tips  have  no  openings,  but  form  a 
closed  system,  it  is  plain  that  the  water  must  be 
absorbed  through  imperforate  membranes.  The 
question  then  arises,  Is  there  any  physical  pro- 
cess by  which  liquids  can  be  absorbed  through 
imperforate  membranes  ?  This  may  be  answered 
from  Experiment  9,  where  a  membrane  (a  sort 
of  gigantic  hair)  has  water  outside  and  a  solu- 
tion of  sugar  inside,  precisely  as  the  root  hair 
has.  In  this  experiment,  the  membrane  and  an 
absorbing  plant  stand  side  by  side. 

Can  liquids  be  absorbed  through  imperforate  mem- 
branes ? 

Answer  from  Experiment  9. 

It  is  also  important  to  know  whether  the  absorp- 
tion is  merely  a  passive  filling  of  open  tubes  or 
an  active  process  that  can  overcome  resistance. 
This  may  be  learned  by  attaching  a  pressure 
gauge  in  place  of  an  open  tube,  as  has  been 
done  in  Experiment  10. 


228  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST, 

Can  pressure  be  exerted  in  this  process  of  absorp- 
tion ? 

Answer  by  Experiment  10. 

51.  Prepare  a  synoptical  essay  (of  not  over  three  hun- 
dred words)  on  the  Cellular  Anatomy  of  the 
Higher  Plant. 

Materials.  —  Roots  are  much  alike  in  their  anatomy,  and 
almost  any  will  do  for  the  anatomy  of  the  shaft  called  for  in 
Exercise  48;  the  students'  own  scalpel  sections  will  show  rela- 
tive development  of  the  principal  tissues.  Splendid  tips  and 
root  hairs  may  be  obtained  thus :  take  a  small,  very  porous 
flower-pot  saucer  and  place  in  it  seeds  of  Radishes  or 
Mustards,  soaked  a  few  hours;  cover  with  another  saucer 
and  set  it  in  a  dish  of  water  deep  enough  to  keep  the  seed 
saucer  always  wet.  In  three  days  the  roots  and  hairs  will 
be  perfectly  developed.  As  many  saucers  and  as  few  students 
as  possible  to  each  is  best.  It  is  also  well  to  have  a  few  of 
the  same  kinds  of  seeds  sown  at  the  same  time  in  earth,  to 
show  how  the  earth  affects  the  growth  of  the  hairs  in  com- 
parison with  their  free  and  symmetrical  development  in  the 
saucer.  The  hairs  in  the  saucers  wilt  very  quickly  when 
exposed  to  the  air. 

The  Mustard  shows  the  tip  and  cap,  with  the  radiating 
lines  of  growth,  even  without  any  special  treatment  and  with  a 
simple  lens,  but  the  potash  makes  them  much  plainer. 

Pedagogics.  —  An  exercise  excellent  for  observation,  and 
particularly  valuable  for  its  introduction  to  the  very  important 
subject  of  absorption  of  liquids.  Under  Exercise  49  they 
should  not  fail  to  make  out  that  the  zone  of  hairs  advances 
not  bodily,  but  by  growing  in  front  and  dying  behind.  Here 


CELLULAR  ANATOMY  OF  THE  ROOT  22Q 

also  it  is  profitable  to  try  a  simple  demonstration  experi- 
ment proving  that  the  growth  of  the  root  is  entirely  at  the 
tip,  which  can  be  done  by  taking  a  large  root  of  a  ger- 
minating Bean  and  marking  it  with  waterproof  India  ink 
at  short  regnlar  intervals ;  it  is  then  allowed  to  grow  on 
farther  in  a  thistle  tube,  as  described  in  works  on  physi- 
ology. The  marks  may  be  put  on  with  a  stretched  thread 
dipped  in  the  ink ;  such  marks  will  not  run  as  do  those 
made  with  a  pen  or  brush.  It  is  particularly  important 
that  students  observe  that  the  roots  contain  no  openings,  but 
are  a  closed  system.  The  distinctness  of  the  growing  point, 
and  the  protective  cap,  should  be  noted. 

The  explanation  of  osmosis,  the  physical  process  by  which 
the  liquids  are  absorbed  in  both  cases  in  Experiment  9,  is 
not  easy  for  beginners,  nor  are  botanists  and  physicists  agreed 
upon  the  precise  nature  of  the  process.  It  will  probably 
have  to  be  sufficient  with  beginners  to  point  out  to  them 
the  physical  fact,  illustrated  fully  by  Experiment  9,  that  when 
a  certain  solution  is  on  one  side  of  a  membrane  wettable  by 
water,  and  water  on  the  other,  the  water  will  pass  in,  while 
if  the  membrane  is  wettable  by  the  solution,  some  of  it  will 
pass  out,  though  not  so  much  as  enters ;  but  if  the  mem- 
brane is  not  wettable  by  the  solution,  none  of  the  solution 
will  pass  out.  For  the  teacher's  own  satisfaction,  however, 
the  subject  should  be  well  worked  out,  whether  he  gives  it 
to  his  students  or  not.  The  membranes  have  no  holes  that 
the  most  powerful  microscope  can  discover,  yet  there  must 
be  openings  of  some  kind,  as  otherwise  the  water  could  not 
pass.  These  are  supposed  to  be  spaces  between  the  ulti- 
mate particles,  called  "  micellae,"  of  which  the  membrane  is 
believed  to  be  composed.  There  are  two  possible  views  as* 
to  the  nature  of  the  osmosis,  —  one,  that  water  is  strongly 


23O  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

absorbed  by  the  membrane  in  virtue  of  an  adhesive  attrac- 
tion between  them,  but  is  robbed  from  the  membrane  by  a 
stronger  adhesion  between  the  dissolved  substance  and  the 
water,  and  the  limit  of  the  pressure  that  can  be  exerted  in 
osmosis  would  be  the  limit  of  this  adhesion.  The  more 
generally  accepted,  and  probably  more  nearly  correct,  view 
is  based  upon  the  fact  that  the  osmotic  pressure  that  can 
be  exerted  by  any  solution  is  exactly  that  which  the  dis- 
solved substance  would  exert  if  converted  into  a  gas  confined 
in  the  same  space  at  the  same  temperature.  Hence  the 
substance  is  supposed  to  be  in  a  compressed  gas-like  con- 
dition, constantly  exerting  expansive  pressure,  but  limited  by 
the  boundaries  of  the  liquid  in  which  it  is  dissolved.  Thus 
the  latter  is  tending  always  to  expand,  and  hence  it  will 
easily  absorb  any  liquid  offered  to  it,  as  from  a  wet  mem- 
brane, and  this  allows  it  to  expand,  and  hence  to  rise  in  a  tube, 
etc.  Therefore,  when  there  is  a  continuous  supply  of  water, 
as  in  our  osmometer,  there  will  be  a  steady  rise  of  the  solu- 
tion until  the  limit  of  the  gaseous  expansion  of  the  dissolved 
substance  has  been  reached ;  and  hence,  also,  if  this  liquid  be 
confined  (as  in  the  Pfeffer's  artificial  cell,  particularly  well 
described  in  Goodale's  "  Physiology,"  which  the  teacher  should 
carefully  study  in  this  connection),  it  will  exert  pressure  upon 
a  gauge.  Of  course,  the  energy  enabling  the  gas  or  dissolved 
substance  to  exert  its  pressure  is  derived  from  heat  in  the 
atmosphere.  The  marked  difference  between  the  osmometer 
made  by  the  diffusion  shell  and  the  root  hair,  in  that  the 
former  allows  some  of  the  sugar  to  pass  out,  while  the  latter 
does  not,  must  be  emphasized.  In  the  root  hair  there  is  not 
only  a  membrane  comparable  with  the  parchment,  viz.  the 
cellulose  wall,  but  an  additional  one,  a  lining  film  of  pro- 
toplasm, which  in  the  root  hairs  (but  not  always  in  other 


CELLULAR  ANATOMY  OF  THE  ROOT 


231 


living  cells)  is  impervious  to  the  sugar  solution.  Another 
difference  between  them  is  that  the  membrane  opens  into  an 
open  tube,  while  the  root  hairs  do  not,  but  communicate 
through  lines  of  living  cells  with  the  ducts  in  the  root  and 
stem.  How  the  water  gets  from  the  hairs  unto  these  ducts 
is  as  yet  entirely  unknown.  But  the  primary  physical  process 
is  the  same  in  the  parchment  cup  and  the  living  root-hair 
cell,  and  in  Experiment  9  one  may  say  that  on  the  one  side 
we  have  a  great  number  of  tiny  hairs,  and  on  the  other 
a  single  gigantic  one. 

Experiment  No.  9.  —  Take  two 
burettes  of  16  mm.  diameter,  and 
remove  the  bottom  up  to  2  cm. 
below  the  beginning  of  the  gradu- 
ation, and  smooth  the  cut  end  in 
the  flame.  Over  one  of  them  fit 
a  soaked  diffusion  shell  of  16  mm. 
diameter  (which  may  be  obtained 
of  Eimer  and  Amend  of  New 
York),  and  tie  it  to  the  burette 
very  tightly  with  a  waxed  thread. 
Fill  it  with  a  thin  solution  of 
molasses  up  to  the  zero  mark. 
Such  an  instrument  is  a  very  effi- 
cient osmometer.  The  molasses 
may  be  made  stronger  if  quicker 
working  is  desired.  These  shells 
are  the  best  arrangements  for  the  FIG. 23. -Dimeters constructed 

purpose  I  know  of,  but  if  they  are         from   a    parchment    shell    and 


not    available,  "a    piece    of   good 


from  a  living  plant.     Xs. 


parchment  (generally  obtainable  of  bookbinders)  may  be  soaked 
and  stretched  tightly  over  the  lower  end  of  the  burette ;  of 


232  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

course,  with  its  smaller  surface,  it  works  far  more  slowly  than  the 
diffusion  shell.  To  the  other  burette  a  plant  is  to  be  attached 
as  shown  in  Fig.  23.  Select  an  actively  growing  plant  with 
a  stem  about  the  size  of  the  inner  diameter  of  the  burette. 
Cut  it  off  an  inch  from  the  earth,  and  attach  it  to  the  burette 
by  a  rubber  tube  fitting  over  both  it  and  the  plant,  and  tie  it 
tightly  to  the  plant  with  a  rubber  band  so  there  can  be  no 
leak.  When  plant  and  osmometer  are  placed  side  by  side, 
as  in  Fig.  23,  the  demonstration  is  very  in- 
structive. A  film  of  oil  may  be  placed  on 
the  liquid  in  both  tubes  to  prevent  loss  of 
any  of  it  by  evaporation.  Of  course,  very 
careful  records  of  the  rise  should  be  made 
by  the  students.  Exact  measurement  has 
great  pedagogic  value  in  itself,  and  a  habit 
of  preferring  precise  quantitative  results  to 
loose  generalizations  should  always  be  culti- 
vated. 

Experiment  No.  10.  —  A  simple  and  effec- 
tive pressure  gauge  may  be  made  as  follows 
(Fig.  24)  :    Take  a  glass  tube  with  a  glass 
stop-cock  at   one  end,  and  graduate  it  in 
millimetres  and  centimetres  with  India  ink 
applied  with  a  stretched  thread.     Select  a 
vigorous  plant  with  a  stem  about  the  diam- 
eter of  the  inside  of  the  tube,  and  cut  it 
off  an  inch  from  the  ground.     On  the  top 
FIG.  24.  —  Gauge  for  of  the  stump  fit  a   short    piece    of  rubber 
measuring  root  pres-  tubing  thick    enough    to   make   stump  and 
outside   of  tube   the   same    diameter,    and 
slip  another  piece   of  tubing  over  this  and  the    tube  so  as 
to  make  a  water-tight  joint.     This  joint  must  next  be  made 


ANATOMY  AND  MORPHOLOGY  OF  THE  FLOWER      233 

inexpansible  to  pressure  from  within,  which  can  be  done  by 
winding  it  tightly  and  carefully  by  several  turns  of  tire- 
tape  (used  for  repairing  bicycle  tires) .  Enough  water  should 
then  be  put  into  the  tube  to  bring  it  up  to  the  zero  mark, 
and  the  stop-cock  (a  perfectly  air-tight  one)  should  then 
be  closed.  The  water  forced  out  from  the  stump  will  then 
compress  the  air  column,  and  the  exact  pressure  exerted  may 
be  calculated  by  Mariotte's  law,,  —  that  pressure  is  inversely 
proportional  to  the  volume  of  the  gas.  Thus,  suppose  the  air 
column  is  compressed  to  three-fourths  of  its  former  length ; 
this  means  a  pressure  upon  it  of  four-thirds.  But  it  had  one 
atmosphere,  that  is,  three-thirds,  upon  it  at  the  start ;  hence 
the  additional  pressure  exerted  by  the  water  will  be  one-third 
of  an  atmosphere,  or  about  five  pounds  to  the  square  inch. 
This  implies  that  the  readings  shall  be  taken  always  at  the 
same  temperature,  which  is  not  difficult  to  manage,  and  it 
neglects  a  slight  error  due  to  the  Water  vapor  in  the  tube, 
but  the  latter  is  at  the  most  very  small.  The  ingenious  teacher 
can  make  a  tube  without  the  stop-cock,  perhaps  even  a  closed 
test-tube,  do.  The  plant  is,  of  course,  to  be  watered  regularly, 
but  not  too  much,  or  the  roots  will  soon  die  of  suffocation. 
Another  very  instructive  experiment  upon  roots  is  one  to 
show  their  hydrotropism,  a  most  important  irritable  property ; 
methods  of  demonstrating  it  are  given  in  all  physiological 
works. 

XIV.     The  Anatomy  and  Morphology  of  the 
Flower 

52.   What  is  the  structure  of  the  essential  parts  of  the 

flower  —  pollen-grain  and  ovule  ? 
Answer  from  a  study  of  the  material  supplied. 


234  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

The  microscope  must  be  used.  After  examining 
the  pollen  dry,  add  water,  and  observe  the  effect. 
After  examining  the  ovules,  placed  on  a  slide 
in  water,  as  fully  as  possible,  add  potash,  which 
may  make  their  structure  clearer. 

53.  What  is  the  exact  structure  of  the  Scilla  flower  ? 

(1)  Of  what  distinct  parts  is  it  made  up  ? 

(2)  In  what  relative  positions  are  these  arranged  ? 
In  addition  to  your  drawings,  construct  diagrams 

which  shall  show  in  ideal  horizontal  section  the 
ground  plan  of  the  flower,  and  in  ideal  vertical 
section,  the  vertical  plan.  In  each  case  repre- 
sent sections  through  the  most  typical  parts  of 
the  structures.'  The  two  diagrams  are  comple- 
mentary to  each  other,  and  one  need  not  repeat 
what  the  other  shows. 

54.  In  your  earlier  studies  you   have  found  that  the 

flower  originates  as  a  branch  does,  i.e.  from  an 

axillary  bud. 
In  what  way  does   the   Scilla  flower  answer  to  a 

branch,  i.e.  in  what  way  have  stem  and  leaves 

altered  their   shapes  and  positions  to  form  the 

parts  of  the  flower  ? 
Represent   by   diagrams   the    intermediate   stages 

between  leaves  and  the  parts  of  the  flower. 

55.  What  is  the  function  of  each  part  of  the  flower? 

56.  After  the  same  manner  study  the  Hyacinth  flower. 
Represent  by  diagrams  only. 


ANATOMY  AND  MORPHOLOGY  OF  THE  FLOWER   235 

Materials.  —  For  pollen  and  ovules,  those  of  Scilla  or  Hya- 
cinth are  good.  For  the  structure  of  the  flower,  if  this  work 
comes  in  summer,  Trillium  or  Buttercup  are  both  very  good. 
If  in  winter,  Scilla  siberica,  squill,  is  the  simplest  and  most 
typical  plant  available ;  it  is  extremely  easy  to  raise  in  shallow 
boxes;  the  bulbs,  each  supplying  several  flowers,  are  cheap, 
and  any  skilful  gardener  can  have  them  ready  on  a  given  date. 
Tulips  are  good,  but  expensive.  Next  best  is  Hyacinth,  the 
single  white  Roman  kind,  but  this  is  much  less  simple  and 
typical.  These  are  grown  for  sale  in  most  greenhouses,  and 
flower  so  abundantly  they  are  not  expensive.  But  of  course 
others  will  answer,  though  kinds  with  superior  ovary  must  be 
selected.  In  summer  many  simple  forms  .may  be  collected 
and  preserved  in  formaline,  or  even  dried  and  pressed,  but  in 
the  latter  case  they  must  be  soaked  out  in  warm  water,  and 
are  far  inferior  to  fresh  flowers.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to 
give  a  pressed  flower  to  a  pupil  to  begin  with. 

Pedagogics. — A  study  in  observation,  recording,  and  knowl- 
edge of  the  flower.  The  introduction  to  the  flower  through 
the  study  of  pollen  and  ovule  is  extremely  important  as  helping 
to  impress  upon  students  what  is  really  essential  to  it.  An 
account  of  fertilization  and  its  meaning  should  here  be  given. 
Under  Exercise  53  the  study  is  purely  in  anatomy.  At  this 
stage  of  their  work  they  should  be  able  without  special  help 
to  work  out  fully  and  correctly  the  structure  of  such  a  flower 
as  the  Scilla,  and  to  represent  it  well.  They  should  not  miss 
such  points  as  that  three  of  the  perianth  parts  are  outside  of 
the  other  three,  that  there  are  three  cells  to  the  ovary,  that 
the  ovules  are  on  a  central  placenta,  and  that  the  anthers 
contain  pollen.  But  too  much  detail,  such  as  kinds  of  ovules, 
dehiscence  of  anthers,  etc.,  must  not  be  expected  at  this 
stage,  else  time  is  lost  and  proportion  is  destroyed;  the 


236  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

most  essential  things  first,  is  the  best  rule.  Terms  for  the 
principal  parts  —  perianth,  petals,  sepals,  etc.  —  and  for  the 
conditions  of  union  of  parts,  —  gamopetalous,  gamophyllous 
(for  parts  of  a  perianth),  etc.  —  should  be  given  after  the  need 
for  them  has  been  felt. 

The  construction  of  the  diagrams  is  the  most  important 
pedagogical  part  of  this  exercise.  They  will  be  spoken  of 
below. 

In  the  morphology,  the  students  should  of  themselves  recog- 
nize that  receptacle  is  stem  which  remains  short,  that  petals 
and  sepals  are  leaves ;  but  stamen  and  pistil,  particularly 
anthers  and  ovules,  will  puzzle  them.  They  should  be 
allowed,  or,  if  necessary,  led  to  see  that  the  latter  are  not 
homologous  with  anything  they  have  yet  studied ;  in  fact,  so 
far  from  representing  modified  edges  of  leaves,  etc.,  they  are 
as  distinct  from  leaf  or  stem  as  these  are  from  root,  and  they 
are  older  than  the  leaf  or  the  stem  (see  page  146).  They 
are  sporangia  containing  spores,  an  inheritance  from  the  non- 
flowering  plants,  with  certain  appendages  added.  The  ovule 
(nucellus)  is  a  spore-case  containing  a  single  spore  (macro- 
spore  or  embryo  sac)  whose  germination  produces  the  egg- 
cell,  the  whole  surrounded  by  one  or  two  protective  coats, 
The  anther  is  a  spore-case  containing  spores  (microspores  or 
pollen-grains)  whose  germination  produces  ultimately  the 
pollen  tube  with  its  contents.  The  pistil  is  composed  of  in- 
folded leaves  with  the  spore-cases  on  their  edges.  It  is  a  mis- 
take to  try  to  homologize  the  ovary,  style,  and  filament,  with 
blade  or  petiole  of  a  leaf,  for  the  differentiation  into  blade  and 
petiole  is  an  attribute  of  the  foliage  leaf  only,  not  of  the  spore- 
bearing  leaves,  which,  it  is  possible,  have  not  been  derived  at 
all  from  foliage  leaves  (see  page  147).  I  have  found  it  in 
my  own  experience  most  profitable  to  teach  the  correct  mor- 


ANATOMY  AND  MORPHOLOGY  OF  THE  FLOWER      237 

phology  of  these  parts,  including  ovule  and  pollen-grain,  from 
the  start;  pupils  understand  it  as  readily  as  they  do  the 
formal  and  partly  incorrect  morphology  current  in  many  of 
our  text-books,  and  they  .have  nothing  to  unlearn  later. 

It  is  usually  assumed  that  a  perianth  tube,  such  as  the 
Hyacinth  has,  is  composed  of  united  petals  and  sepals;  th?1^ 
is  not  strictly'  true,  for  the  tube  is  probably  not  made  by  trve 
union  of  the  bases  of  petals  and  sepals,  but  by  a  ring  of  tissue 
under  the  bases  of  the  petals  and  sepals,  which  is  one  con- 
tinuous structure,  a  sort  of  ring  leaf,  and  not  six  united  parts 
(see  page  148).  The  point  is  very  important  for  an  under- 
standing of  the  composition  of  complex  flowers. 

The  function  of  pollen  and  ovule  can  best  be  given  them 
through  an  account,  fully  illustrated  by  diagrams,  of  the  process 
of  fertilization.  That  of  calyx  can  be  illustrated  by  reference 
to  buds  where  it  is  a  protection  to  the  young  parts.  As  to  the 
showy  corolla,  its  use  can  be  brought  out  by  such  a  line  of 
reasoning  as  this  :  Experiments  and  observation  have  shown 
that  better  seed  is  produced  when  pollen  and  ovule  come 
from  different  plants;  this  requires  the  locomotion  of  pollen 
from  one  plant  to  another ;  this  is  often  brought  about  by  wind, 
but  that  is  a  very  wasteful  method ;  a  much  more  economical 
mode  of  locomotion  of  the  pollen  would  consist  in  using  some 
agency  which  could  be  made  to  move  from  one  flower  to  an- 
other ;  small  animals,  particularly  insects,  form  such  an  agency, 
but  some  inducement  must  be  provided  to  make  them  visit  the 
flowers ;  this  is  generally  done  by  nectar,  on  which  they  feed ; 
but  the  place  where  the  nectar  is  must  be  shown  them  so  they 
may  find  it ;  this  is  done  either  by  strong  odors,  or  else  by 
color ;  the  special  structure  developed  to  hold  the  color  is  the 
corolla.  Later  the  argument  may  be  continued  thus  :  not  only 
must  the  insect  be  brought  to  the  vicinity  of  the  nectar,  and 


238  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

therefore  of  the  pollen,  but  it  must  be  made  to  approach  the 
nectar  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  upon  the  stigma  the  pollen 
it  has  brought,  and  to  take  a  new  supply ;  hence  the  different 
shapes  and  sizes  of  flowers  —  shape  being  chiefly  to  make  the 
insect  enter  the  flower  in  a  position  proper  to  secure  the 
pollination,  and  size  being  in  general  related  to  the  size  and 
form  of  the  visiting  insect.  This  mode  of  reasoning  must  be 
used  with  great  caution,  and  not  allowed  by  the  pupils  without 
the  most  complete  evidence  for  their  arguments.  It  is  im- 
possible, however,  for  them  to  work  out  without  great  time  and 
labor  the  true  theory  of  the  flower,  and  a  theoretical  account 
of  it  like  this  is  much  better  than  none.  It  would  be  far 
better  to  obtain  a  basis  for  such  a  description  by  study  of  wild 
flowers  out  of  doors  in  summer. 

Like  most  other  teachers,  I  have  used  blank  forms  for 
description  of  flowers,  but  have  abandoned  them,  not  because 
they  are  not  valuable  if  properly  used,  but  because  much  more 
good  can  be  obtained  from  the  same  amount  of  time  and 
labor  spent  as  here  recommended.  Besides,  the  blanks  imply 
a  great  amount  of  work  on  terminology,  which  again,  while 
far  from  valueless,  does  not,  nevertheless,  in  my  opinion,  con- 
stitute the  best  use  that  can  be  made  of  the  students'  energy 
and  time. 

Of  great  value  in  the  study  of  flowers  is  the  representation 
of  the  fundamental  facts  of  their  structure  by  horizontal  and 
vertical  diagrams  as  called  for  under  Exercise  53,  These  are 
intended  to  represent,  not  superficial  features  of  form,  etc.,  so 
much  as  fundamental  relations  of  number,  relative  position, 
coalescence,  etc.  Ground  plans  for  this  purpose  are  given  in 
all  works  upon  floral  structures,  but  the  equally  useful  ver- 
tical plan  is  much  less  used.  As  an  example,  there  are  here 
given  these  diagrams  for  Scilla  and  Hyacinth  (Figs.  25,  26). 


ANATOMY  AND  MORPHOLOGY  OF  THE  FLOWER      239 

The  following  principles  should  be  observed  in  their  con- 
struction. The  two  kinds  are  complementary  to  one  another, 
and  it  is  not  necessary  to  try  to  show  in  one  what  is  already 
brought  out  in  the  other.  Relations  of  number,  alternation 
and  coalescence  of  like  parts,  are  brought  out  in  the  horizontal, 
and  general  form  and  adnation  of  unlike  parts  in  the  vertical. 
Conventional  signs,  as  shown  by  the  accompanying  examples, 
can  be  used  for  the  parts.  Form  should  be  shown  only  so 
far  as  possible  without  interfering  with  the  clearness  of  repre- 


FlG.  25.  —  Diagrams   of  Scilla   flower.     Receptacle  dotted;    carpels  cross- 
lined  ;    petals  black ;  sepals  and  stamens  unshaded. 

sentation  of  the  more  essential  features.  They  should  be 
constructed  with  the  most  rigid  exactness,  every  spot  and 
line  having  its  meaning,  and  no  confusion  of  lines  allowed. 
Particularly  important  is  the  insertion  of  parts  upon  the  re- 
ceptacle and  upon  one  another;  and  lines  should  not  be 
allowed  to  touch  one  another  in  the  diagram  except  in 
order  to  represent  parts  grown  together  in  the  flower. 
The  help  of  compasses,  etc.,  should  be  required,  if  necessary, 
to  make  them  symmetrical  Teachers  should  remember,  how- 


240  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

ever,  that  while  these  diagrams  are  extremely  useful  servants 
they  are  bad  masters.     In  my  own  experience  I  have  found 


FIG.  26. —  Diagram  of  Hyacinth  flower.      The  vertical  lines  show  the  perianth 
tube ;    other  shading  as  in  Fig.  25. 

nothing   to   equal   them   for   compelling   clear  ideas  on   the 
part  of  the  student. 


XV.   The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  the  Flower 

57.    What   is   the    exact   structure    and    morphological 

composition  of  the  Snowdrop  flower  ? 
Express  in   the   horizontal  and  vertical  diagrams. 


MORPHOLOGY  AND   ECOLOGY  OF  THE  FLOWER        24! 

By  special  shading  bring  out  the  exact  morpho- 
logical nature  of  each  part. 
What  adaptations  to  cross-pollination  does  it  show  ? 

58.  What   is   the   exact    structure    and   morphological 

composition  of  the  Narcissus  flower? 
Answer  as  for  the  above. 

59.  What  is  the  exact  morphological  composition  of  the 

Primrose  flower  ? 
Answer  as  for  the  above. 

60.  Tabulate    the    resemblances    and    the    differences 

between  the  Scilla  and  the  Primrose. 

61.  What  is  the   exact   morphological   composition  of 

the  Fuchsia  flower  ? 

62.  What  is    the    morphological    composition    of   the 

Eupatorium  flower? 

63.  What    is   the    morphological    composition    of   the 

Cytisus  flower? 

In  the  diagrams  the  irregularity  may  in  a  gen- 
eral way  be  represented ;  but  it  must  not  be 
allowed  to  interfere  with  the  clearness  of  the 
ground  plan. 

Materials.  —  The  Snowdrop  is  the  very  best  of  flowers  with 
inferior  ovary,  and  worth  much  trouble  to  obtain.  Fuchsia  is 
also  extremely  good  for  a  flower  with  inferior  ovary,  and  easy  to 
obtain  at  florists.  Narcissus  and  Freesia  are  also  good.  Prim- 
roses, grown  in  large  numbers  for  sale  by  all  greenhouses,  are 
very  good  and  not  expensive.  The  range  of  materials  used  in 
the  preceding  exercise  and  in  this  is  ample  to  explain  fully  the 
R 


242  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

morphology  of  the  flower.  For  a  Composite,  which  can  readily 
be  understood  at  this  stage,  the  small  white  Eupatorium  often 
grown  in  greenhouses  is  very  good,  but  others  will  do,  such  as 
Cineraria,  or  Senecio  petasites.  If  irregular  flowers  are  added, 
any  papilionaceous  flower  will  do,  of  which  some  kinds  are 
always  in  greenhouses.  4 

Pedagogics.  —  More  specialized  flowers  are  here  taken  up, 
and  some  that  are  irregular.  The  question  of  the  morpho- 
logical composition  of  the  wall  of  the  inferior  ovary  must 
be  faced.  Students  may  best  be  introduced  to  this  by  stating 
to  them  the  fact,  illustrated  by  diagrams,  that  every  flower,  no 
matter  how  specialized,  originates  as  a  set  of  originally  distinct 
leaves  on  a  conical  receptacle ;  let  them  reason  from  this 
in  the  case  of  the  Snowdrop,  and  if  they  are  not  previously 
prejudiced  by  the  calyx-adnate-to-the-ovary  theory,  they  will 
readily  see  that  the  stamens,  petals,  and  sepals  must  stand  on 
the  receptacle,  which  therefore  must  form  the  wall  of  the  ovary 
by  growing  up  in  the  form  of  a  hollow  cup,  while  the  carpels 
form  the  roof  over  it,  and  also  the  partitions.  This  is  the 
morphology  which  embryology  sustains.  In  the  Fuchsia  the 
morphology  of  the  ovary  is  the  same,  but  here,  in  addition,  a 
tube  is  formed  after  the  manner  already  spoken  of  for  the 
Hyacinth  and  Primrose  In  the  Composite  flower  the  mor- 
phology is  very  like  that  of  Primrose  and  Fuchsia,  i.e.  the  ovary 
is  a  hollowed-out  receptacle  on  the  top  of  which  the  sepals, 
often  finely  divided  into  a  pappus,  and  the  corolla-tube  stand. 

In  diagramming  the  flowers  of  the  Snowdrop,  etc.,  it  is  well 
to  use  shading  of  the  different  parts,  to  represent  their  exact 
morphology.  In  the  preceding  diagrams  (Figs.  25-26)  this 
is  done,  and  in  the  same  way  it  may  be  done  in  the  Fuchsia 
(Fig.  27).  In  diagramming  the  irregular  flowers,  as  the 
Cytisus,  a  part  of  the  irregularity  can  be  shown,  but  it  must 


MORPHOLOGY  AND  ECOLOGY  OF  THE  FLOWER       243 

never  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  clearness  of  the  ground 
plan  of  the  flower. 

In  laboratory  study,  students  cannot  do  much  if  any  practical 
work  on  cross-pollination,  but  it  is  well  to  keep  the  matter  before 


FIG.  27.  —  Diagrams  ot  Fuchsia  flower.     Shading  as  in  Figs.  25  and  26. 

their  attention,  particularly  in  flowers  like  the  Fuchsia,  which 
shows  splendid  nectar  glands,  and  in  irregular  flowers  where  the 
alighting-place  and  definite  path  of  the  insect  can  be  traced. 
Something  can  be  accomplished  in  the  laboratory  by  imitating 


244  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

with  brushes,  etc.,  the  operations  of  the  insect  in  particular 
flowers.  The  teacher  can  find  facts  on  the  mode  of  cross- 
pollination  of  many  common  flowers  in  Miiller's  "  Fertilization," 
and  with  this  as  a  basis  can  make  valuable  demonstrations  to 
the  class.  A  lecture  or  talk,  illustrated  by  diagrams,  upon  this 
most  interesting  of  subjects  will  be  appreciated  and  have  great 
meaning  at  this  stage. 


XVI.     The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  the 
Flower.  —  Continued 

64.  In  each  of  the  ten  flowers  supplied,  what  is  the 

identity  of  each  visible  part  ? 

Answer  by  annotated  sketches. 

Can  you   trace   any  special   adaptations  to  cross- 
pollination  ? 

65.  In  the  flower  clusters,   in  what  positions   do   the 

younger  flowers  stand  relatively  to  the  older  ? 
Can  any  connection  be  traced  between  the  size  of  a 

cluster  and  the  size  or  number  of  the  blossoms 

composing  it  ? 
What  does  a  cluster  probably  mean  in  connection 

with  cross-pollination  ? 

66.  Construct   a   series   of  diagrams,   using   colors,  to 

show  the  intermediate  stages  in  the  development 
from  a  simple  conical  vegetative  point  of  — 

a.  A  flower  with  all  parts  distinct. 

b.  A  flower  with  superior  ovary,  but  the  other 

parts  united  into  a  tube. 


MORPHOLOGY  AND  ECOLOGY  OF  THE  FLOWER        245 


B 


if 


FIG.  28.  —  Diagrams  to  illustrate  the  morphology  of  typical  flowers.  A,  hypogy- 
nous ;  B,  perigynous ;  C,  epigynous ;  D,  epigynous  with  prolonged  "  calyx 
tube."  Receptacle  is  dotted ;  carpels  are  cross-lined ;  "  perianth  tube," 
or  "  calyx  tube,"  vertically  lined.  Sepals,  petals,  and  stamens  are  unshaded, 
but  may  be  distinguished  by  their  relative  positions. 


246  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

c.  A  flower  with  inferior  ovary,  but  other  parts 

distinct. 

d.  A  flower  with  inferior  ovary,  but  other  parts 

united. 

Materials.  —  For  Exercise  64  there  should  be  obtained  from 
a  greenhouse  some  of  the  more  special  forms  of  flowers,  such  as 
Begonia,  Calla,  Orchids,  Poinsettia,  Narcissus,  etc.,  of  which  the 
different  specialized  parts  are  to  be  recognized  by  the  student, 
and  reduced  to  their  proper  categories  of  sepals,  petals,  etc.  Of 
course,  only  a  few  of  each  kind  can  be  had,  as  they  are  expen- 
sive, but  they  need  not  be  taken  apart,  or  only  partially,  and 
by  the  teacher ;  they  may  be  passed  from  one  student  to 
another.  To  some  extent  herbarium  specimens,  especially  if 
prepared  for  the  purpose,  could  be  used  instead  of  fresh  mate- 
rial, but  the  latter  is  always  best.  For  Exercise  65  material 
is  best  available  in  summer,  but  something  may  be  done  with 
greenhouse  or  even  herbarium  material. 

Pedagogics.  —  Under  Exercise  64  comes  some  good  morpho- 
logical practice,  training  in  the  habit  of  recognizing  similarity 
of  original  nature  under  diversity  of  form. 

In  Exercise  65  some  terminology  will  have  its  use,  but  this 
subject  of  flower  clusters,  while  of  considerable  value  in  classifi- 
cation, is  not  of  much  interest  otherwise.  Of  course,  care  is 
taken  by  the  teacher  to  select  the  more  marked  types. 

Most  valuable  is  the  work  of  Exercise  66.  This  cannot, 
it  is  true,  be  made  from  observation,  but  must  be  worked  out 
theoretically,  as  shown  on  the  accompanying  diagrams  (Fig. 
28).  The  exercise  has  great  value  in  contributing  to  ideas 
of  almost  mathematical  clearness.  A  student  cannot  construct 
these  diagrams  who  does  not  perfectly  understand  the  mor- 
phology of  the  complex  flowers.  Series  a  is  about  like  the 


MORPHOLOGY  AND   ECOLOGY  OF  THE  FRUIT        247 

Scilla,  except  that  it  is  supposed  to  have  a  distinct  calyx  and 
corolla,  b  is  not  like  any  of  the  flowers  studied,  but  is 
nearest  like  the  Hyacinth  except  for  the  distinct  calyx  and 
corolla,  c  is  like  the  Snowdrop,  and  d  like  the  Fuchsia.  This 
morphology  differs  much  from  that  in  use  in  the  manuals, 
but  is  more  nearly  correct,  as  shown  by  embryological  studies. 


XVII.     The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  the 
Fruit 

67.  What  is   the   exact   structure   and    morphological 

composition  of  the  six  dry  fruits  supplied  ? 

(1)  What  has  become  of  each  of  the  parts 

of  the  original  flower,  i.e.  sepals,  petals, 
stamens,  receptacle,  ovary,  style,  and 
stigma  ? 

(2)  How  are  the  carpels  or  receptacle  modi- 

fied and  arranged  to  form  this  fruit  ? 

(3)  What  is  the  morphology  of  the  new  or 

accessory  parts,  —  wings,  etc.  ? 

(4)  In  what  places,  morphologically,  is  the 

dehiscence  ? 

(5)  How  are  the  seeds  probably  scattered  ? 
Answer  by  diagrams  and  drawings  as  far  as  possi- 
ble.    Under  (2)  bring    out   the    leaf    or    stem 
homology  in  each  case. 

68.  What  is  the  exact  structure  and  morphological  com- 

position of  the  six  fleshy  fruits  supplied  ? 
Answer  as  for  Exercise  67. 


248  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

69.  Prepare  a  synoptical  essay,  not  to  exceed  four  hun- 
dred words,  on  the  Morphology  and  Ecology  of 
the  Flower  and  Fruit. 

Materials.  —  In  part  these  may  be  bought  in  markets,  in  part 
must  be  collected  the  year  before.  Typical  follicles  are  Colum- 
bine, and  Larkspur  or  Monk's-hood ;  legumes  are  green  Beans 
or  Peas,  or  Locust  pods ;  winged  fruits  are  Maple  and  Elm ; 
others  are  Poppy,  Sunflower,  Shepherd's  Purse.  Of  fleshy 
fruits,  good  kinds  are  Grape,  Tomato,  and  Orange  (especially 
navel),  Apple,  Banana,  Cherry  (canned  are  good),  Strawberry, 
Cranberry.  Many  others  can  be  used,  but  these  are  particu- 
larly typical  and  obtainable. 

Pedagogics.  — This  is  a  very  valuable  exercise  for  morphol- 
ogy. The  students  cannot,  of  course,  from  the  fruits  alone 
settle  all  points  of  morphology,  but  they  can  settle  many ;  and 
as  for  the  rest,  it  will  be  a  most  valuable  exercise  for  them  to 
form  their  hypotheses,  and  then  have  these  confirmed  or  other- 
wise by  the  teacher,  who  will  supply  missing  data.  This,  under 
rigid  control,  is  a  truly  scientific  procedure,  indeed  the  greatest 
help  of  the  investigator.  Their  interpretation  will  be  greatly 
aided  if  they  are  shown  pictures  of  the  flowers  from  which  the 
fruits  come,  —  that  is,  if  the  flowers  are  not  themselves  avail- 
able. The  ideal  would  be  for  them  to  have  several  stages 
from  the  flower  to  the  fruit.  It  will  be  best  to  take  the 
fruits  up  in  order,  the  simplest,  i.e.  the  follicle,  first,  then  the 
legume,  and  so  on. 

This  must  not  be  made  a  drawing  lesson  in  still  life,  at  least 
not  in  class ;  it  can  be  largely  worked  out  by  diagrams.  Dia- 
grams which  are  halfway  between  the  carpels  and  unmodified 
leaves  are  particularly  valuable,  but,  of  course,  the  fruits  should 
be  drawn  and  labelled  for  structure  also. 


MORPHOLOGY  AND   ECOLOGY  OF  THE  FRUIT         249 

It  is  not  worth  while  to  give  students  unusual  terms,  such  as 
sarcocarp,  etc.,  which  are  not  used  in  descriptive  works,  but 
follicle,  legume,  drupe,  etc.,  should,  of  course,  be  supplied  as 
they  are  needed. 

The  true  morphology  of  the  fruit  should  be  taught;  e.g.  in 
the  Apple,  the  flesh  is  mainly  receptacle,  with  a  little  of  it  from 
carpel ;  in  the  Cranberry,  it  is  receptacle,  etc.  Particularly 
important  is  a  clear  idea  of  the  Cherry,  with  part  of  the  carpel 
forming  stone  and  the  other  part  pulp.  Something  similar  to 
this  separation  occurs  in  the  Orange,  where  the  skin  is  sepa- 
rable ;  it  is  a  part  of  the  carpels.  The  pulp  of  the  Orange 
is  a  growth  of  hairs  from  the  inner  (upper)  faces  of  the  car- 
pellary  leaves,  though  these  hairs  are  not  unicellular.  The 
whole  subject  of  the  morphology  of  the  pulp  is  of  great  inter- 
est ;  it  originates  jn  a  variety  of  ways.  An  account  of  seed 
locomotion  (a  subject  always  of  great  interest  to  students) 
should  be  taken  up  here  in  much  more  detail  than  was  pos- 
sible near  the  beginning  of  the  course. 

It  may  be  noted  here,  by  the  way,  that  the  word  "  ecology," 
so  often  used  in  this  work  (spelled  cecology  in  the  Century 
Dictionary,  and  defined  there)  is  coming  rapidly  into  general 
use  to  express  adaptation  of  plants  and  their  parts  to  .external 
conditions. 


DIVISION    II 

THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF   THE 
GROUPS   OF   PLANTS 

THIS  second  part  of  our  course  is  a  study  of  the 
Natural  History  of  Plants.  It  investigates  the  habits 
and  structure  of  these  organisms,  and  the  relations  of 
their  shape,  size,  color,  positions,  and  cellular  texture  to 
their  modes  of  nutrition,  growth,  reproduction,  loco- 
motion, and  protection.  Whenever  possible  the  plants 
are  to  be  observed  as  they  grow  naturally  and  undis- 
turbed in  their  native  homes. 

I.   The  Algae 

70.   What  is   the  structure  and   ecology  of   the  Pleu- 

rococcus  ? 
Your  record  should  bring  out  clearly :  — 

a.  The  exact  appearance  to  the  naked  eye  of 
the  organism  as  it  grows  under  natural 
conditions,  and  a  description  of  those,  con- 
ditions. Whatever  annotated  drawings  will 
not  bring  out  is  to  be  added  in  notes. 
The  exact  structure  of  the  organism,  not  only 
in  two  dimensions,  but  in  all  three,  with  ex- 
pression of  the  true  size, 


THE  ALG^E  251 

c.  Both    the   vegetative    and    the    reproductive 

parts. 

d.  Ecological  connection  between  structure  and 

habits. 

71.  What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  Spirogyra? 
Answer  as  for  Exercise  70. 

72.  What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  Fucus  ? 
Answer  as  before. 

73.  What  is   the   structure   and   ecology  of   a  typical 

Red  Seaweed? 

74.  From  your  own  studies,  from  the  specimens  and 

pictures   examined,   reading,    and  other  sources 
of  information,  concisely  describe  :  — 

(1)  the  range  of  habitat  in  Algae; 

(2)  of  color; 

(3)  of  size ; 

(4)  of  shape ; 

(5)  of  texture. 

75.  Prepare   a   concise   essay,  not   over   two   hundred 

and  fifty  words,  on  the  Natural  History  of  the 
Algae,  emphasizing  their  ecology. 

Materials.  —  The  aim  is  to  give  first  a  typical  unicellular 
form,  reproducing  by  fission,  and  a  filamentous  conjugating 
form  next.  Zoosporic  forms  can  hardly  be  used  for  study  of 
processes  of  reproduction,  because  of  practical  difficulties.  As 
this  study  is  more  ecological  than  systematic,  it  matters  little 
just  what  forms  are  taken  as  long  as  they  are  typical.  In 
summer  many  Algae  are  available,  but  in  winter  I  have  found 


252  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

that  Pleurococcus  and  Spirogyra  give  the  optimum  resultant 
between  accessibility  and  representativeness  of  their  respective 
groups.  Pleurococcus  may  be  found  on  the  damp,  shaded 
bricks  and  flower-pots  of  any  greenhouses,  but,  since  many 
other  Algae  occur  in  those  places,  it  is  necessary  to  examine 
the  material  carefully ;  it  may  be  obtained  also  from  the  bark 
of  trees,  on  the  damp,  shaded  side,  where,  as  a  green  film,  it 
is  sufficiently  familiar.  Protococcus  occurs  in  about  the  same 
situations,  but,  as  it  reproduces  by  zoospores  only,  which  are 
extremely  difficult  to  demonstrate,  it  is  less  useful.  As  to 
Spirogyra,  it  is  a  classic  object,  and  good  for  many  purposes. 
Conjugating  and  zygosporic  material  must  be  secured  the  au- 
tumn before  (or  may  be  bought  from  the  Cambridge  Botanical 
Supply  Company),  and,  with  vegetative  material,  may  be  pre- 
served in  formaline.  But  much  better  is  material  kept  all  winter 
in  a  dish  or  tank  in  a  greenhouse,  as  it  can  then  be  seen  of  its 
natural  color  and  appearance.  In  all  cases  the  material  alive 
and  on  its  natural  substratum  should  be  brought  into  the  labo- 
ratory. Fucus  may  be  collected  on  the  coast  in  summer  and 
preserved  in  formaline,  or  may  be  obtained  alive  and  fresh  at  any 
time  of  year  from  the  Cambridge  Botanical  Supply  Company 
on  a  few  days'  notice.  For  its  proper  study,  sections  through 
the  conceptacles  are  needful,  and  these  may  be  made  by  the 
students  themselves  with  a  sharp  scalpel,  the  end  of  the  frond 
being,  held  between  two  flat  pieces  of  pith.  There  is  no  Red 
Seaweed  known  to  me  which  is  easily  obtainable  alive  in  quantity 
and  in  condition  to  show  its  reproductive  parts  to  students.  I 
have  had  to  use  herbarium  specimens  of  various  species  for  the 
vegetative  structure,  and  to  supply  the  reproductive  structures 
of  a  typical  form  from  diagrams,  using  the  Kny  series  for 
this  purpose.  The  students  copy  this  diagram  with  explana- 
tions ;  it  is  not  a  good  principle,  but  it  is  better  than  nothing. 


THE  ALGJE  253 

Pedagogics. — Up  to  the  present  this  course  has  been  con- 
cerned chiefly  with  training  in  botanical  principles,  using  the 
higher  plants  as  a  basis ;  information  has  been  subordinate  to 
the  cultivation  of  eye  and  hand,  and  to  the  formation  of  scien- 
tific instincts.  From  this  time  on,  the  object  is  to  lead  the 
student  to  make  a  close  and  sympathetic  personal  acquaintance 
with  the  chief  kinds  of  living  plants ;  information  becomes  of 
equal  value  with  training,  and  the  means  for  acquiring  the 
former  is  of  greater  value.  It  is  true  that  but  few  kinds  can 
be  studied ;  hence  it  is  best  to  select  forms  as  representative 
as  possible  of  the  great  leading  groups.  The  aim  should  be, 
using  a  thorough  study  of  these  as  centres,  aided  by  collections, 
figures,  and  reading,  to  secure,  through  the  medium  of  their 
own  senses,  the  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  students 
of  a  clear,  sharply  lined  picture  of  the  place  in  nature  of  each 
group,  —  what  kinds  of  places  it  lives  in,  how  it  obtains  its 
nourishment  and  reproduces,  and  the  meaning  of  the  most 
constant  characters  of  form,  color,  etc.,  and  how  each  is  related 
to  the  other  groups. 

There  are  so  many  excellent  books  upon  the  natural  history 
of  the  different  groups  that  extended  directions  are  here  un- 
necessary. These  books  are  referred  to  in  Chapter  VII,  but 
particularly  practical  and  valuable  to  the  teacher  are  Spalding's, 
Barnes's,  and  Atkinson's  works. 

It  is  of  first  importance  that  students  see  the  forms  they 
study  growing  alive  in  their  native  places,  and  that  they  look 
upon  them  not  inertly,  but  with  active  curiosity,  which  will  be 
the  case  if  the  teacher  keeps  properly  before  them  problems 
to  be  solved.  Next  to  this,  and  supplementary  to  it,  is  the 
study  of  herbarium,  or  museum  materials,  photographs,  and 
prints.  If  it  is  not  possible  for  them  to  see  the  plants  alive 
and  at  home,  then  the  teacher  should  describe  to  them  as 


254  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

vividly  as  possible,  and  with  all  available  illustrations,  just 
where  and  under  what  conditions  they  grow. 

The  compound  microscope  is,  of  course,  necessary  from 
the  start. 

The  representation  of  the  living  plant,  no  matter  how  small, 
called  for  under  Exercise  70,  a,  seems  to  me  most  important. 
Even  in  Pleurococcus,  where  a  single  plant  cannot  be  distin- 
guished with  the  naked  eye  at  all,  the  student  gains  far  more 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  exact  place  of  the  organism  in 
nature  if  he  has  to  draw  and  describe  the  appearance  of  the 
colonies  or  masses  of  it,  than  if,  after  a  hasty  glance  at  the 
living  form,  he  confines  his  studies  to  magnified  images  of  it. 
Throughout  this  study  of  natural  history  of  plants  I  regard  this 
representation  of  the  appearance  of  the  entire  organism,  as  it 
looks  alive,  as  one  of  the  most  important  of  all  exercises. 
Colored  drawings  are  the  best,  and  the  fullest  scope  should 
be  given  the  artistic  talents  of  students  ;  but  a  black  and 
white  drawing,  with  colors,  etc.,  explained  in  notes,  is  better 
than  a  coarsely  or  badly  colored  picture. 

Exercise  70,  b,  is  also  important ;  it  may  be  brought  out  by 
shading,  but  also,  and  for  most  students  better,  by  imaginary 
cross-sections.  These  are  of  great  value  for  testing  the  stu- 
dents' knowledge. 

Exercise  70,  c,  is  necessary ;  they  should  acquire  the  habit 
of  seeking  for  the  reproductive  parts. 

Exercise  70,  dt  can  best  be  answered  in  a  concise  paragraph. 
Of  course,  for  Pleurococcus,  this  is  most  simple,  as  the  plant 
is  unicellular,  and  all  functions  are  performed  by  one  cell ; 
substances  are  absorbed  anywhere  over  the  surface.  Spirogyra 
and  other  floating  forms  are  but  little  more  complex ;  such 
simple  forms  hardly  have  any  "  ecology."  In  the  more  com- 
plex forms,  however,  adaptations  become  more  pronounced, 


THE  ALG^E  255 

and  the  thinness  and  fineness  of  division  of  the  forms  always 
immersed,  in  adaptation  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  sufficient 
oxygen,  the  toughness  and  elasticity  and  powerful  holdfasts  of 
those  dwelling  between  tide-marks  exposed  to  the  full  force 
of  the  waves,  the  bladders  for  floating,  the  red  and  brown 
instead  of  green  colors,  probably  in  adaptation  to  the  peculiar 
light-conditions,  all  should  receive  attention. 

Exercise  74  is  particularly  valuable  as  calling  attention  to 
the  chief  elements  in  adaptation. 

This  study  of  Algae  will  occupy  at  least  four,  and  better 
six,  two- hour  periods. 

In  this  kind  of  study,  I  think  collection  is  of  great  value. 
The  collecting  instinct  is  one  of  the  chief  attributes  of  the 
successful  naturalist,  especially  of  him  who  studies  whole  organ- 
isms. The  taking,  the  preparing,  the  keeping  of  specimens, 
all  have  value  in  increasing  acquaintance,  and  the  reference 
to  them  from  time  to  time  afterward  is  a  pleasure  and  a 
profit.  But  as  most  people  lack  this  inclination,  it  is  better 
to  make  the  collecting  voluntary.  Algae  are  easy  to  preserve. 
Of  Pleurococcus,  a  little  may  be  scraped  carefully  off,  put  on 
a  small  piece  of  paper,  moistened,  well  spread  out,  and  then 
placed  between  driers,  with  a  bit  of  cotton  cloth  over  the 
alga  to  keep  it  from  sticking  to  the  upper  paper.  Spirogyra 
should  be  floated  out  well  in  water,  then  paper  should  be 
slipped  under  it,  and  the  whole  lifted  from  the  water,  to  be 
dried  afterward  as  in  the  Pleurococcus.  These  may  then  be 
mounted  in  the  book-herbarium  described  elsewhere  (see  page 
no).  A  most  valuable  series  may  be  made  by  mounting 
specimens  of  all  the  plants  studied  in  this  Part  II,  and  thus 
would  result  a  very  instructive  collection  of  types  representing 
the  groups  from  Algae  to  Phanerogams.  This  would  accord 
with  one  division  of  the  plan  earlier  recommended  (page  104). 


256  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

II.   The  Fungi 

76.  What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  Bacteria  ? 
Answer  fully  as  for  Exercise  70. 

On  the  basis  of  instruction  given  you,  and  your 
reading,  write  a  paragraph  upon  the  economic 
aspects  of  this  group  of  Bacteria. 

77.  What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  Yeast  ? 
Write  a  paragraph  upon  the  economic  aspects  of 

Yeast. 

78.  What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  Bread  Mould  ? 

79.  What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  the  Mush- 

room ? 

80.  From  your  own  studies,  from  specimens  and  pic- 

tures examined,  reading,   and   other  sources  of 
information,  concisely  describe  :  — 

(1)  the  range  of  habitat  in  Fungi; 

(2)  of  color ; 

(3)  of  size ; 

(4)  of  shape ; 

(5)  of  texture. 

The  outlines,  here  so  brief,  will  of  course  be  made  much 
more  detailed  by  the  teacher,  to  accord  with  the  details  of  his 
own  instruction.  Henceforth  in  this  series,  only  the  advanta- 
geous forms  for  study  will  be  indicated. 

Materials. — These  are  easily  obtained.  Bacteria  from  hay 
placed  two  or  three  days  in  water  in  a  warm  place ;  or  from  Lima 
Beans  soaked  two  or  three  days,  and  from  many  other  sources 


THE  FUNGI  257 

which  all  of  the  books  tell  about;  Yeast,  of  course,  from 
yeast-cake  placed  overnight  in  water  with  a  little  sugar  (Yeast 
may  be  made  to  form  spores  by  growing  on  plaster  of  Paris 
plates  as  described  in  books)  ;  Bread  Mould  by  keeping  bread 
several  days  moist  in  a  warm  place  ;  Mushrooms  from  the  mar- 
kets, or  canned,  may  be  used.  Of  course,  there  are  numerous 
other  easily  available  forms  of  Fungi  that  may  be  used  if  time 
allows,  but  it  is  most  important  to  use  the  chief  types. 

Pedagogics.  —  As  under  Algae.  A  full  account  of  economics 
should  be  given  in  lectures  or  demonstration,  including  the 
importance  of  Bacteria  not  only  in  decay,  diseases,  etc.,  but 
in  the  arts  (cheese-making,  etc.),  the  nitrification  of  soils, 
fixation  of  nitrogen  in  Leguminosae,  etc.  Full  descriptions 
should  be  given  also  of  the  important  forms  of  Mildews,  Rusts, 
and  others  of  economic  importance ;  those  which  are  studied 
in  the  laboratory  will  form  a  good  basis  for  the  theoretical 
study  of  others,  for  each  form  actually  studied  by  the  student 
illuminates  many  others. 

If  the  material  on  any  particular  stage  is  insufficient,  dia- 
grams may  be  copied ;  this  is  better  than  skipping  an  impor- 
tant stage  altogether. 

It  is  especially  important  to  keep  constantly  prominent 
the  place-in-nature-and-among-other-plants  idea,  which  requires 
generalization  and  active  use  of  the  imagination. 

Very  important  is  the  phylogenetic  relationship  of  one  of 
these  groups  to  another  :  the  teacher  should  make  it  plain 
that  Fungi  are  forms  degenerate  through  parasitism  from  the 
Algae,  and  not  a  homogeneous  group,  but  derived  from  dif- 
ferent sub-groups  of  the  Algae  (see  Fig.  29).  There  is  great 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  details  of  the  relationships  of 
these  groups.  There  is  a  valuable  discussion  of  the  subject  in 
Campbell's  "  Evolution  of  Plants." 
s 


258  THE   TEACHING  BOTANIST 

III.   The  Lichens 

8 1.  What   is  the    structure    and   ecology  of    the   Par- 

melia,  a   typical   Lichen  ? 
Answer  as  for  the  earlier  groups. 

82.  From   your   various   sources   of   information,  con- 

cisely describe:  — 

(1)  the  range  of  habitat  in  Lichens; 

(2)  of  color; 

(3)  of  size; 

(4)  of  shape ; 

(5)  of  texture. 

83.  Prepare    a    synoptical    essay,    of    not    over    three 

hundred  words,  on  the  Natural  History  of   the 
Fungi  and  Lichens,  emphasizing  th-ur  ecology. 

Materials. — The  common  Parmelia  growing  upon  trees 
everywhere  is  excellent,  and  both  thallus  and  a^othecia  may 
be  obtained  at  all  seasons.  The  students,  of  c  Durse,  should 
collect  it  for  themselves,  and  describe  it  as  it  appears  in 
its  native  situation. 

Pedagogics.  —  As  in  the  preceding.  The  group  is  of  great 
interest  on  account  of  the  remarkable  symbiosis  of  the  Algae 
and  Fungi,  which  should  all  be  made  plain. 

To  show  properly  the  two  elements  of  the  thallus,  and 
especially  to  show  the  spores  in  the  apothecia,  students'  scalpel 
sections  are  not  alone  sufficient,  in  which  case  they  may  be 
shown  how  to  section  in  pith  with  a  razor  (described  in 
Strasburger  and  Hillhouse,  "  Practical  Botany  ")  ;  it  is  much 
better  to  let  them  do  this  sectioning  than 'to  -have  it  done 
for  them.  Prepared  microtome  sections  are  very  useful  also. 


THE  BRYOPHYTES  259 

IV.    The  Bryophytes 

84.  What  is   the  structure   and   ecology  of   a  typical 

Hepatic  (Marchantia)  ? 
Answer  as  for  the  preceding  groups. 

85.  What   is   the   structure   and   ecology  of   the   true 

Moss  ? 
Answer  as  for  the  earlier  groups. 

86.  What   is    the    range    of    habitat,    of    color,    size, 

shape,  texture,  in  Bryophytes  ? 

87.  Prepare  a  synoptical  essay  of  two  hundred  words, 

upon  the  Natural  History  of  the  Bryophytes. 

i 
Materials.  —  Marchantia  polymorpha  is  the   most  available 

Hepatic,  and  may  be  collected  in  summer  with  the  arche- 
gonia  and  'antheridia  ripe,  and  placed  in  formaline,  or  may 
be  bought  from  the  botanical  supply  companies.  For  a 
Moss,  Polytrichum,  or  "  pigeon-wheat,"  collected  in  summer 
and  put  in:  formaline,  is  good.  It  is  necessary  to  have  the 
antheridial  r  ancjl  archegonial  material  as  well  as  the  nearly 
ripe  spore-cases. 

Pedagogics.  —  It  is  generally  difficult  to  find  the  arche- 
gonia  of  any  Moss,  and  probably  the  teacher  will  tfiink  it 
best  to  use  mounted  preparations  for  this.  Of  course,  as 
before,  the  habitat  will  be  examined  or  explained,  and  the 
students'  ideas  broadened  by  an  inspection  of  museum  and 
herbarium  material  and  of  pictures.  They  should  particularly 
be  shown  some  of  the  simpler  floating  forms  of  Hepaticae,  alive 
if  possible,  to  emphasize  the  derivation  of  this  group  from 
the  Algae,  and  also  specimens  of  Anthoceros,  which  doubt- 
less gave  origin  to  the  Pteridophytes.  Of  course,  the  posi- 


260  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

tion  of  the  Mosses  as   a  side   and  barren  branch,  and  their 
alternation  of  generations,  will  be  emphasized. 


V.   The  Pteridophytes 

88.  What  is  the  structure  and   ecology  of  the  Fern 

plant  ? 

Does  the  vegetative  structure  agree  in  its  general 
composition  with  that  already  studied  by  you 
in  the  flowering  plants  ? 

89.  What  is   the  structure   and   ecology  of   the   pro- 

thallus  stage  of  the  Fern  ? 

90.  What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  the  Selagi- 

nella  ? 

91.  Prepare    a    synoptical    essay   of    not   over   three 

hundred    words,   upon    the    Natural    History  of 
Pteridophytes  emphasizing  their  ecology. 

Materials.  —  Any  Fern  with  the  sori  in  good  condition  will 
do ;  material  may  be  obtained  from  greenhouses  at  any  time. 
The  prothalli  are  very  difficult  to  find  out  of  doors,  but  are 
easy  to  obtain  in  abundance  on  neglected  flower-pots,  walls, 
and  earth  in  greenhouses,  particularly  in  badly  kept  ones. 
While  the  general  structure  of  the  prothalli  is  easy  to  deter- 
mine, the  exact  structure  of  archegonia,  in  particular,  is  very 
difficult  for  beginners,  and  it  may  be  needful  to  have  sections 
prepared  for  them.  Full  directions  and  other  very  valuable 
matter  on  this  subject  will  be  found  in  Atkinson's  "  Biology 
of  Ferns"  (see  bibliography  on  page  137).  Selaginella  may 


THE  GYMNOSPERMS  261 

be  obtained  from  greenhouses,  and  shows  the  macrospores  and 
microspores  in  good  condition  in  winter  and  early  spring. 

It  is  very  desirable  also  to  allow  the  students  opportunity 
to  examine  at  least  one  typical  Club- moss  (Lycopodium)  and 
an  Equisetum. 

Pedagogics.  —  This  is  an  important  group  from  many  points 
of  view.  Ecologically  it  is  important  as  the  lowest  large  land 
group,  though  its  fertilization  belongs  to  a  water  habit.  The 
alternation  of  generations,  here  at  its  plainest,  should  be 
emphasized.  The  structure  of  the  sporangia  may  be  easily 
made  out  fully.  In  Selaginella,  the  two  kinds  of  spores 
may  be  seen,  but  it  is  not  possible  to  get  the  prothallus, 
etc.,  and  this  must  be  described  from  pictures ;  and  if  the 
teacher  is  skilful,  some  idea  can  be  given  of  the  nature 
of  heterospory  and  of  its  significance  in  the  transition  from 
Cryptogams  to  Phanerogams,  though  it  must  be  confessed  this 
is  a  difficult  topic  for  beginners.  The  relation  of  the  Pterido- 
phytes  to  the  Hepaticae,  through  Anthoceros,  should  be  empha- 
sized, and  the  table  of  relationships  given  students  as  in  Fig. 
29.  It  is  well  to  keep  these  trees  of  relationship  constantly, 
before  them,  adding  each  group  as  it  is  studied. 


VI.    The  Gymnosperms 

92.   What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  the  Pine  ? 

Can  you  homologize  the  vegetative  structure  with 

that  of  the  higher  plants  studied  earlier  by  you  ? 
Can  you   homologize   the   reproductive   structures 

with  those  of   the    Pteridophytes  just   studied? 

Or  with  the  flowering  plant  formerly  studied  ? 


252  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

93.  Prepare  a  synoptical  essay,  not  over  two  hundred 
words,  upon  the  Gymnosperms,  emphasizing 
their  ecology  and  relationships. 

Materials.  —  Male  and  female  flowers  of  the  Pines  may  be 
obtained  in  June  and  kept  in  formaline ;  along  with  the  young 
stages  should  be  collected  some  of  the  year-old  cones. 

Pedagogics.  —  This  group  is  important  but  not  easy  to  study 
fully.  It  is  easy  enough  to  study  the  male  flowers  of  Pine, 
in  which  the  homology  of  the  anthers  and  pollen  should  be 
kept  plain  by  calling  them  microsporangia  and  miscrospores. 
In  the  female  flowers  it  is  very  difficult  to  make  out  parts  of 
the  embryo-sac  and  the  egg:cells,  and  diagrams  must  be  used. 
The  homologies  should  be  made  plain  by  calling  the  nucellus 
macrosporangium  and  the  embryo-sac  macrospore,  though 
strictly  it  is  only  the  very  young  and  ungerminated  embryo-sac 
that  is  macrospore  and  the  later  stage  they  study  is  its  germi- 
nated condition.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  try  to  homologize  the 
scales  of  the  cones  with  carpels ;  the  homologies  are  extremely 
doubtful,  in  any  case,  and  the  most  recent  studies  seem  to  show 
that  the  Gymnosperms  are  not  the  ancestral  forms  of  the 
Angiosperms  at  all,  but  have  come  off  from  the  Pteridophytes 
by  a  distinct  branch  as  shown  in  the  table  in  Fig.  29.  It  will 
be  well  to  give  the  students  some  idea  of  the  Cycads,  and 
particularly  the  Cycas  with  its  antherozoids,  of  which  there  is 
a  good  account  in  Atkinson's  "  Elementary  Botany." 

VII.   The  Angiosperms 

a.  Monocotyledons 

94.    What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  the  forms 
supplied  ? 


THE  ANGIOSPERMS  263 

b.  Apetalous  Dicotyledons 

95.  What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  the  Willow? 

96.  What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  the  other 

Apetalae  supplied? 

c.  Polypetalous  Dicotyledons 

97.  What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  the  forms 

supplied  ? 

d.   Gamo.petalous  Dicotyledons 

98.  What  is  the  structure  and  ecology  of  the  forms 

supplied  ? 

99.  Prepare  a  synoptical  essay,  not  to  exceed  three 

hundred  words,  upon  the  Angiosperms,  empha- 
sizing their  ecology  and  relationships. 
100.  Prepare  a  genealogical  tree  which  shall  repre- 
sent the  descent  of  the  Angiosperms  from  the 
Algae,  showing  their  probable  phylogenetic 
connections. 

Materials.  —  This  part  of  the  course  will  come  in  the  spring 
when  there  is  abundance  of  material  out  of  doors,  and  no 
doubt  plenty  of  plants  in  all  of  the  groups  are  everywhere 
available.  Of  course,  also,  typical  kinds  may  be  kept  in 
formaline,  or  even  dried,  though  the  latter  is  not  to  be 
recommended.  The  aim  should  be  to  secure  representatives 
of  the  different  leading  groups. 

Pedagogics.  —  This  part  of  the  course  is  the  most  familiar 
to  teachers,  and  hence  there  is  little  need  for  special  direc- 
tions. For  an  apetalous  form,  Willow  is  particularly  good, 


264  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

since  it  so  nearly  represents  a  theoretically  primitive  flower, 
/.  e.  one  consisting  of  stamens,  or  pistils,  and  a  nectar  gland ; 
the  latter  is  theoretically  the  first  accessory  part  of  a  flower  to 
appear,  and  the  most  important  part  in  adaptation  to  insect 
visits ;  the  color  develops  later  to  show  where  the  nectar  is,  and 
brings  with  it  the  need  for  a  color-carrier,  which  office  is 
assumed  by  some  of  the  stem  leaves,  originating  the  corolla. 

There  is  much  doubt  as  to  the  position  of  the  Monocoty- 
ledons. By  some  they  have  been  considered  as  a  side 
branch  of  Dicotyledons,  but  the  weight  of  evidence  at  the 
present  day  places  them  in  the  ancestral  line  of  the  Dicoty- 
ledons, and  derives  them  through  the  low  water-plants  from 
the  heterosporous  higher  water-ferns.  The  division  into  Ape- 
talae,  Polypetalae,  and  Gamopetalae  is  not  natural,  but  is 
convenient  from  an  ecological  point  of  view.  The  teacher 
will,  of  course,  keep  before  the  students  the  part  played  by 
adoption  of  insect  pollination  in  development  of  the  corolla, 
and  of  increasing  specialization  for  insect  visits  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  gamopetalous  condition.  The  teacher  should 
use  in  classification  the  Engler  and  Prantl  system  employed 
in  the  most  modern  books ;  it  is  much  more  natural  than 
the  Bentham  and  Hooker  system  largely  employed  hitherto. 
The  aim  of  the  teacher  in  selecting  materials  for  study  in 
this  division  should  be  to  represent  the  leading  groups  and 
families,  as  they  are  given  in  the  best  modern  books,  as,  for 
instance,  in  Campbell's  "  Evolution,"  and  in  Strasburger's 
"Text-Book."  Of  course,  at  this  time  naturally  comes  the 
use  of  manuals  for  identification  of  species.  As  I  have  already 
said,  however,  I  do  not  think  the  time  of  all  members  of  the 
class  should  be  taken  for  this,  but  extra  voluntary  classes 
should  be  formed  of  those  especially  interested  in  the  sub- 
ject. Of  great  profit,  too,  are  field  excursions,  when  atten- 


THE  ANGIOSPERMS 


265 


tion  should  be  given  not  so  much  to  collecting  specimens  for 
identification,  but  to  seeking  illustrations  of  the  principles  of 
adaptation  they  have  studied  earlier  in  the  course.  Practi- 


GREEN    ALGAE; 


FIG.  29.  — Hypothetical  tree  of  relationship  and  descent  of  the  leading 
groups  of  plants. 

cally,  I  have  found  that  large  field  parties  are  not  profitable, 
and  that  ten  is  a  maximum  number  that  should  be  allowed 


266  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

to  go.  At  these  times  materials  may  be  gathered  for  the 
structural  herbarium  earlier  recommended  (page  169).  When 
analysis  work  is  undertaken,  it  is  better  done  in  the  field ;  for 
which  purpose  the  students  take  their  manuals  (for  which  the 
leather-bound  field  editions  should  be  used)  with  them.  In 
this  work  every  effort  should  be  exerted  to  make  them 
acquainted  with  families  as  well  as  with  species.  Each  plant 
studied  should  be  made  to  contribute  not  only  its  own  name 
and  systematic  position,  but  should  also  make  firmer  and 
clearer  the  students'  knowledge  of  the  larger  groups,  so  that 
the  whole  scheme  of  classification  will  come  to  stand  out  as 
a  sort  of  unified  structure  in  his  mind. 

A  genealogical  tree,  such  as  is  called  for  under  Exercise  100, 
would  be  about  like  that  on  the  preceding  page  (Fig.  29). 
The  mode  of  branching  indicates  the  supposed  mode  of  origin 
of  the  groups  from  one  another ;  thus  the  Algae  were  once 
the  main  line,  from  which  the  Bryophytes  came  off  as  a  side 
branch,  soon,  however,  themselves  assuming  the  main  line, 
while  the  Algae  became  a  side  branch.  The  Mosses  are  a 
side  branch  from  the  Liverworts.  The  Pteridophytes  came 
off  as  a  side  branch  from  Bryophytes,  but  soon  took  the  main 
line,  and  so  on,  as  expressed  in  the  diagram. 


INDEX 


Absorption,  37,  40,  227,  231. 
Aeration  system,  218,  220. 
Albuminous  seeds,  170,  171. 
Alcohol,  use,  etc.,  100. 
Algae,  42,  250. 
Analysis  of  flowers,  266. 
Anatomy,  3,  4,  33,  49. 
Angiosperms,  262. 
Apetalae,  263. 

Apparatus  for  physiology,  91. 
Aristolochia,  222. 
Assimilation,  151,  199. 
Astronomy,  27. 
Auxanometer,  224. 

Bacteria,  43,  256. 

Balsam  (Impatiens),  191, 194,  212. 

Bibliography,  137. 

Biological  sciences,  4. 

Blanks  for  description,  39,  238. 

Book-herbaria,  no. 

Books  of  travels,  122. 

Books,  use  of,  47. 

Botanical  books,  119. 

Botanical  essays,  121,  123. 

Botanical  supply  companies,  93. 

Botanic  gardens,  96. 

Botany,  place,  worth,  3,  27,  29,  32,  40. 

Bottles  for  museums,  100. 

Bryophytes,  42,  259. 

Buds,  208. 

Bush  beans,  194. 

Calyx-tube,  237. 

Cambium,  213. 

Carbon  dioxide,  needed,  204. 

Carpels,  morphology,  147,  236. 

Castor-bean,  168. 

Causality,  35. 


Cellular  anatomy,  214. 

Chara,  216. 

Chemistry,  24,  27,  28. 

Circumnutation,  226. 

Classical  course,  17. 

Classics  vs.  sciences,  19,  25. 

Classification,  3,  42,  264. 

Climbers,  207. 

Clinostat,  183. 

Coleus,  191, 194. 

Collecting,  109,  255. 

Collections,  65,  95. 

Comparison,  34,  163. 

Compound  leaves,  200,  202. 

Corn,  167,  169,  170,  177,  221. 

Cortex,  211. 

Cotyledons,  166,  169,  188. 

Cross-fertilization,  50,   128,   152,    237, 

243,  244. 

Culture,  its  nature,  18. 
Cycads,  262. 
Cytisus,  241. 

Description  in  recording,  77. 
Diagram  cases,  116. 
Diagrams,  home-made,  116. 
Diagrams,  generalized,  76. 
Diagrams   of  flowers,  234,  238,  242, 

246. 

Diagrams  vs.  drawings,  67,  69. 
Diagrams,  wall,  114. 
Dicotyledons,  263. 
Differentiated  plant,  191. 
Dissecting  instruments,  87. 
Dissecting  microscope,  88. 
Dissemination  (locomotion)  of  seeds. 

128. 

Drawing,  66,  67,  68,  164,  254. 
Drawing  books,  76. 


267 


268 


INDEX 


Drawing  paper,  75. 
Drawing,  on  blackboard,  115. 

Ecological  geography,  50. 

Ecological  groups,  98,  207. 

Ecology  (also  (Ecology),  3,  4,  36,  41, 

49,  204,  206,  249. 
Ecology,  works  on,  127. 
Economies  in  education,  8. 
Education,  aim  of,  7,  13,  16,  52. 
Education  of  one's  self,  46,  47,  65, 119. 
Election,  in  schools,  21,  22. 
Elementary  courses,  29. 
Embryos,  35,  166. 
Endogenous  stems,  222. 
Entrance  requirements,  15,  20,  23,  31. 
Epidermis,  211. 
Epiphytes,  207. 
Errors,  morphological,  143. 
Errors,  physiological,  150. 
Essays  by  students,  77. 
Essentials  of  teaching,  46. 
Eupatorium,  241. 
Examinations,  60,  63. 
Excursions,  64,  206. 
Exogenous  stems,  222. 
Experiment,  36,  37,  62. 

Faculties,  scientific,  14. 

Ferns,  260. 

Fibro-vascular  tissues,  211. 

Flower,  anatomy,  233. 

Flower,  ecology,  237. 

Flower,  morphology,  35,  233,  240,  244. 

Food  of  plants,  151. 

Formaline,  use  of,  100. 

Fruit,  morphology  and    ecology,  35, 

173,  247,  248,  249. 
Fuchsia,  241,  243. 
Fucus,  251,  252. 
Fungi,  42,  256,  257. 

Gamopetalae,  263. 

Gas-table,  86. 

Generalization,  34,  38,  56. 

Geology,  27. 

Geotropism,  37,  177,  182,  184,  192. 

Germination,  176,  192. 

Germination-box,  179,  182. 


Gravitation,  see  Geotropism. 
Greenhouses,  83,  92,  98. 
Growth,  222. 
Gymnosperms,  261. 

Halophytes,  207. 

Hand-books,  126. 

Heliotropism,  189,  190. 

Hepaticae,  259. 

Herbaria,  99, 105,  109. 

Herbarium  methods,  107. 

Heterospory,  261. 

High  school  courses,  143. 

History,  15. 

Horse  beans,  163,  177,  182, 186. 

Horse-chestnut,  167,  168,  170, 181,  208. 

Hyacinth,  225,  234,  235,  240. 

Hydrophytes,  207. 

Hypocotyl,  166,  180,  181,  187. 

Idealism  in  morphology,  144. 
Ideals  in  education,  8. 
Illustrations,  95. 
India  ink,  use,  74. 
Inferior  ovary,  242. 
Insectivora,  207. 
Investigation,  48,  50,  59. 
Irritability,  41,  152,  180,  182. 

Journals,  121. 

Labelling  drawings,  71. 

Labelling,  in  museums,  105. 

Laboratory  equipment,  79. 

Laboratory  fees,  92. 

Laboratory  manuals  (or  guides),  5, 130. 

Laboratory  order,  etc.,  58. 

Laboratory  periods,  57. 

Laboratory  rooms,  79. 

Laboratory  study,  132. 

Laboratory  tables,  81. 

Laboratory  work,  55,  57. 

Language,  15,  21. 

Lantern  slides,  113. 

Leaf,  cellular  anatomy,  214. 

Leaf-shape,  201. 

Lectures,  64. 

Lenticels,  209,  213. 

Lichens,  42,  258. 


INDEX 


269 


Lima  beans,  161,  170,  176,  179. 
Lockers,  82. 

Macrospores,  236,  262. 

Manuals,  135. 

Manuals,  use  of,  43. 

Marchantia,  259. 

Materials,  preservation,  93,  99, 

Mathematics,  15,  21,  56. 

Medullary  rays,  223. 

Mesophytes,  198,  207. 

Methods,  place  of,  51. 

Microscope,  use  of,  34,  217. 

Microscopes,  compound,  88. 

Microscopic  anatomy,  works  on,  129. 

Microscopical  preparations,  in. 

Microspores,  236. 

Mind,  training,  14. 

Minute  anatomy,  211,  212. 

Models,  99,  112,  116. 

Monocotyledons,  262,  264. 

Monstrosities,  150. 

Morphology,  3,  4,  35,  49,  144,  149,  169, 

200,  204,  206. 

Morphology,  works  on,  126. 
Morning-glory,  167,  169,  170  177, 
Mosses,  259. 
Moulds,  43,  256,  257. 
Museums,  99,  102. 
Mushrooms,  43,  256,  257. 
Myrmecophila,  207. 

Narcissus,  241. 

Natural  history,  42,  129,  250,  253. 

Natural  history,  works  on,  129. 

Nature,  love  of,  55. 

Nature  study,  i,  24. 

Nitella,  216. 

Nodes,  149,  195. 

Nodules  of  Leguminosse,  195. 

Observation,  33,  163. 
Optimum  course,  2,  3,  6,  29,  32. 
Optimum  vs.  maximum,  61. 
Osmometer,  230,  231. 
Osmosis,  227,  229. 
Osmotic  pressure,  230. 
Outlines,  use  of,  158. 
Ovary,  morphology,  145,  147,  242. 


Ovules,  morphology,  146, 150,  236, 262. 
Ovules,  study  of,  234,  235,  236. 
Oxygen,  evolved,  203. 

Parasites,  207. 

Parmelia,  258. 

Pencils  for  drawing,  74. 

Photographs,  112,  113,  117,  118. 

Photosynthesis,  37,  41,  151,  199,  203. 

Photosynthesis,  test,  202. 

Phyllotaxy,  200,  202. 

Physical  geography,  27. 

Physics,  24,  27,  28. 

Physiological  experiment,  37,  38. 

Physiology,  3,  4,  36,  49. 

Physiology,  human,  27. 

Physiology,  works  on,  126. 

Phytomera,  148,  195,  201. 

Pine,  261. 

Place  of  plants  in  nature,  40,  257. 

Placenta,  morphology,  146. 

Plan  for  museum,  102. 

Plasticity  of  shoot,  etc.,  198,  204. 

Pleurococcus,  250,  252,  254. 

Plumule,  166,  188. 

Poetry  in  laboratories,  55. 

Pollen,  study  of,  234,  235,  236. 

Polypetalae,  263. 

Polytrichum,  259. 

Power  in  education,  55. 

Preservation  of  plants,  99,  100. 

Pressure-gauge,  232. 

Primrose,  241. 

Professional  training,  13,  14. 

Prothalli,  260. 

Protoplasm,  218. 

Psychology,  27. 

Pteridophytes,  260. 

Qualities  in  teaching,  51. 

Racks  for  diagrams,  86. 
Radish,  226. 
Reading,  120. 
Reagent  bottles,  91. 
Realism  in  morphology,  146. 
Recording,  66. 
Red  seaweeds,  251,  252. 
,  Reference  books,  125. 


2/0 


INDEX 


Religious  ideas,  56. 
Reproduction,  40. 
Respiration,  37,  40,  151,  196,  197. 
Responsibility  in  education,  53,  59. 
Root,  35,  148,  181,  226. 
Root,  cellular  anatomy,  226. 
Root  hairs,  228. 
Rubber-plant,  215,  217. 

Saprophytes,  207. 

Scale  in  drawing,  71. 

School  gardens,  97. 

Sciences  in  education,  i,  7,  8,  13,  15, 

19,  21,  23,  26,  55,  120. 
Scientific  exposition,  66,  119, 120. 
Scientific  spirit,  32,  60,  119. 
Scilla,  234,  235,  239. 
Seed,  anatomy,  161,  165. 
Seed,  ecology,  174. 
Seed,  essay  on,  175. 
Seed-locomotion,  128,  172. 
Seed,  morphology,  167. 
Seed,  physiology,  171. 
Seedlings,  187. 
Selaginella,  260. 
Sentimerrtalism,  56. 
Shoot,  35,  148. 
Snowdrop,  240. 
Specialists,  46. 

Specialization  in  schools,  24,  25. 
Spermatophytes,  44. 
Spirogyra,  251,  252. 
Stamens,  morphology,  146,  236. 
Stereopticons,  113. 
Stomata,  217. 
Structural  botany,  126. 
Summer  schools,  46. 


Supply  companies,  93. 
Symbionta,  207. 
Synthetic  course,  40,  45. 
Systematic  botany,  44. 

Teaching  temperament,  51. 
Terminology,  39,  42,  238. 
Text-books,  5,  131. 
Theorizing,  174. 
Tissues,  41. 

Tissue-systems,  211,  219. 
Tools,  use  of,  34. 
Tradescantia,  214,  216,  217. 
Training,  54, 

Training  vs.  information,  54. 
Transpiration,  215,  220. 
Tree  of  relationship,  265,  266. 
Trophophytes,  207. 
Tulip-tree,  209. 
Twigs,  208. 
Typical  plant,  198. 

Variation,  181, 
Vegetative  points,  195. 
Venation,  200. 
Visualization,  38,  56. 

Wardian  case,  82. 
Willow,  263. 
Window  gardens,  83. 
Winter  buds,  208. 

Xerophytes,  207. 
Yeast,  256,  257. 
Zoology,  27,  28. 


THIS  BOOK 


OF 


, 

3 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


